The Decline of Two Doctors or The Family Man
by FranklinPuppers
Summary: A tale of losing friendship,damaged doctors, and finding your way again. The first part of this story begins rather grimly but sunny skies are at the end. Warning and M rating for dark themes in the beginning, including a suicide attempt. Not Slash.
1. Chapter 1

Sadly for me, but probably happily for you all I own none of this.....this story starts out pretty dark but I swear all with get a bit sunnier by the end =) Hope you enjoy.

Somewhere in the apartment a pipe was leaking. House could hear every drip as water escaped from the pipe and hit the floor in an unknown location of his residence. At least the noise somewhat drowned out the constant ticking from the living room clock. The noise from the wretched time piece infuriated House to the point that he considered getting up and throwing the damn thing out the window. But his leg hurt too much for movement to be a realistic notion. The dripping continued, as did the ticking and the pain in his leg. House considered calling Wilson but quickly realized that when someone said they were through with you it meant they no longer cared enough to answer the phone at two in the morning. He was alone and he was suffering. He wanted out. He wanted to escape the pain, the impending flooding of his apartment and the desolate sound of the ticking clock. With every last bit of willpower in his body House forced himself off of the couch and shuffled into the bathroom.

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Wilson was asleep when the phone rang. He tried to ignore it but the constant shrill tone finally drove him out of bed. He padded into the dark living room and lifted the receiver.

"Wilson, its House. He tried to kill himself." The voice on the other end rasped.

"Selfish bastard." Wilson growled into the phone. He slammed down the receiver and made his way back to bed. He was done letting House run his life. He was getting some sleep.

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"They decided to commit House today. He'll be transferred to an institution in the morning." Dr. Cuddy said causally as she entered Wilson's office.

Wilson didn't even bother to look up from his paper. "Good for them, whoever they are. I hope they chose a place that still does lobotomies."

"Have you even been to see him since he was admitted?" Cuddy demanded.

"Nope." Wilson reached over and grabbed a bagel off of the desk. He took a large bite and washed it down with a swig of coffee.

"So that's it then? You just don't give a crap?"

"Pretty much." Wilson turned the page in his newspaper and took another bite from his bagel.

"He…." Cuddy started.

"Look. I know you feel sorry for House. I don't. The man has bankrupted a good portion of my life. He has damaged every relationship I have ever been in, led to the death of my last girl friend….he practically laughed at me when my mother died last month!" Wilson dropped the paper and looked Cuddy straight in the eye. "If it were me down there do you really think that House would be running to my rescue? I'm sorry Lisa. I just can't do it anymore."

Cuddy nodded sadly and made her exit, quietly shutting the door behind her. Wilson picked back up the paper and resumed eating his bagel.

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The guilt hit like a ton of bricks the next day but Wilson refused to give in. He wasn't going to go visit House where ever they had him locked up. He wasn't going to blame himself for House nearly doing himself in. He wasn't even going to think about House at all.

Of course the latter part of this resolution was a complete failure, not helped at all by House's somewhat loyal former and current ducklings.

"Do you think they'll ever let House out?" Kutner asked as he passed Wilson in the hall.

"How should I know?" Wilson tried to walk faster in an attempt to shake off House's lackey.

"You're his best friend." Kutner pointed out. "I hope they let him out soon. House is a good doctor. Who can blame him for wanting to end the pain in his leg? Do you think that maybe the doctors where he is now can help cure his leg pain?"

"I don't want to talk about House." Wilson snapped. "Don't you have work to do? Or are all of you so brainwashed by House that you are incapable of functioning without his dictation?"

"Sheesh." Muttered Kutner under his breath. "And they say House is the grumpy one in that couple."

Wilson sighed. Great, now not only was he thinking of House but apparently his former friend's minions thought they were a couple. Wilson took a deep breath and pushed to elevator button. As the door opened he found himself face to face with Dr. Allison Cameron.

"Have you….?" Cameron began to question.

"No. I haven't. Why can't anyone seem to grasp the fact that House and I aren't bestest buddies anymore?"

Cameron looked at Wilson as if he had lost it. "I was going to ask if you had seen the new playroom in the kid's oncology ward. Being that you work down there I figured you would be interested."

Wilson frowned. "Sorry."

"Everyone in this hospital knows you are a selfish bastard who ditched his best friend because you couldn't handle it anymore. Half of the hospital can't seem to blame you, the rest just think you are an ass." Cameron frowned back at her former boss's former friend. "In case you're wondering, I'm leaning toward ass."

"Thanks." Wilson stepped past Cameron and got into the elevator. He would not let this get to him. He was done with House and that was that.

That night Wilson sat in his dark apartment trying to concentrate on the TV but his mind kept wandering back to House. He considered the last argument they had been in, the last time they had spoken, the last time he had seen his old friend. How could it be that a man who obviously cared so little about him had consumed so much of his thoughts, his time, his life?

Wilson thought he would feel relief in the fact that House had most likely departed from his life for good. Instead he felt a bit empty, dark and lonely like his apartment was at two am without House's phone calls demanding company, free food or a prescription. As much as Wilson tried to block out these thoughts with memories of how angry House had made him they just wouldn't go away. Wilson finally grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the kitchen cupboard and used it to drown out all thought entirely. He was not going to let House get to him. It was over.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, no own.....

"You need to go pack up House's apartment." Cuddy declared, slamming a stack of boxes on Wilson's desk. "His sick leave has run out and his rent hasn't been paid in two months. The landlord wants his stuff out yesterday."

"I didn't realize that the word for oncologist and the word for moving boy were the same in Latin." Wilson replied sarcastically. "Make one of House's drones go do it for him."

"House's fellows now work for Foreman." Cuddy relied crisply. "And they never once claimed to be the man's best friend."

"Note the once claimed." Wilson pretended to be interested in a file on his desk.

"Look." Cuddy snapped. "We get it. You could care less about House. You have moved on in your life and have become an even bigger ass than he ever was. You don't miss him at all even though you have spent the last three months stalking around his office, hoping he will be back so you can catch a glimpse of him. You spend all of your time snarking at people how you don't want to talk about House but you told my secretary to page you if he calls. Will you please just go to his apartment and shove his crap in these boxes?"

Wilson sat there looking taken aback for a minute then finally replied. "He is not my problem anymore."

"Maybe he isn't, but I am. If you won't pack House's stuff for House, you're going to do it because I am your boss and I am telling you that you will." Wilson nodded numbly. "Good. Oh and you might want to bring along your rain boots. Apparently there is some water damage at the back of the apartment."

"Great. House is locked up in an institution and his still manages to dictate my life." Wilson grabbed the boxes off of his desk and stomped his way out to the parking lot. As he reached his car he realized he was behaving childishly, almost as badly as House often did but he didn't care. He had spent the last three months failing at shoving someone who wasn't even present anymore out of his life. Now he was going to be faced with a flooded apartment full of reminders of this person. Wilson wondered if House had any Vicodin left his apartment. It might make the evening a bit more bearable.

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When Wilson opened the apartment door he was faced with the smell of rot. The living room floor was covered in about two inches of water and all manner of junk seemed to be floating just off of the hardwood. Wilson nearly gagged as he sat the boxes down on the couch and caught a whiff of the moldy food sitting on the coffee table.

"Water damage at the back of the apartment." Wilson muttered to himself out loud. He wondered morbidly if House had broken the pipe when he tried to hang himself in the bathroom. As he made his way into the kitchen he was he hit with an even riper aroma. Wilson eyeballed the counters to find the source of the stench. "Fucking landlord. Why can't he…." Wilson stopped in his tracks as he realized where the smell was coming from. It was House's rat Steve.

Wilson picked up the cage that had once housed House's only other friend. The little creature lay dead in a ball of misery in a corner of his habitat. Wilson felt tears start to run down the side of cheek. "Oh Steve, buddy. I am so sorry." All this time spent trying to block out House and Wilson had forgotten all about the other creature who had once called this apartment home. The rat had starved and died because…no wait. This was House's fault, clearly. He should have told someone to come and feed the rat. The rat was House's responsibility. _But who would he have asked if not you?_ A little voice in the back of his head gnawed at Wilson's conscious.

"He had no one." Wilson said to himself. Looking at the dead rat in the cage Wilson was suddenly hit by a wall of realization. House had no one. Like the little the rat he was locked up alone, probably scared. "He laughed at you when your mom died." Wilson repeated. Or did he? House had made jokes. But was that just his way for trying to make him feel better? Wilson tried pull up all of the angry feelings he had felt towards the other doctor during that time period to stamp out his guilt over the rat. House had come over and bugged him all night. He had made jokes….he had come over.

"Wilson, you idiot!" Wilson took the rat's cage and made his way to his car. Tears flowed freely down his face as he headed to a nearby park. He parked the car and pulled a small shovel leftover from a camping trip he had taken with House the past summer from his trunk. He stopped in a small wooded area and started digging. By the time he was done his shoulders and back were killing him and his head hurt from crying. "Goodnight Steve."

He carefully placed the rat, cage and all, into the hole. He had a fleeting thought about what a police officer might think if one found him like this, caked in dirt, tears and snot filling a hole in a dark wooded area. "I might have killed you but I am not losing House." He said to the rat as he covered him with dirt. Suddenly Wilson paused. Did House even want to hear from him anymore? It had been three months and Wilson had heard nothing from House. No phone call demanding to know where he was, not even one of his lackey's telling Wilson House had asked about him during their last visit. Wilson felt confused. He had gone from being furious at House to feigned apathy to an overwhelming sense of guilt to wondering him House still wanted to be his friend…damn it! This is why they weren't friends anymore. Wilson hadn't seen House in almost four months and yet the man was still toying with his emotions.

Wilson pulled out his cell phone and dialed Cuddy's number to tell her that everything in House's apartment was too water damaged to be saved. He left a message on her machine, brushed the dirt from his hands and started the drive home.

Author's note: please don't hate me for killing off Steve. In real life I am a huge fan of pet rats. No rats were harmed in the writing of this fan fic.


	3. Chapter 3

disclaimer goes here!

Night after night Wilson had dreams of House's rat. The little creature just sat there staring at Wilson, unmoving and unblinking. In his dream Wilson would try to reach out and touch the rat but it would always seemed to move just out of his grasp. After a few tries at blocking out the dream with sleeping pills Wilson gave up on sleep all together. He stared mindlessly at the TV while he tried to block out thoughts of House and dead rats with whiskey and vodka.

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"If you're late again I'm going to have to write you up." Cuddy said sadly as she set a box on Wilson's desk. "Are you trying to replace House by becoming him? If that is your plan this stuff might help. The clean-up crew salvaged it out of his apartment. God knows why."

"I don't want it." Wilson asserted. He tried to push the box back towards Cuddy.

"So throw it out." Cuddy said over her should as she walked away. "I carried it up here. I'm not carrying it back down to the dumpster."

Wilson groaned as he began to sort through the box. Everything in it smelled like mold. There were a few water stained medical textbooks, a chipped Sponge Bob mug, a couple of CDs, and a few water logged patient files. Cuddy was right. God knows why anyone would try to salvage this stuff. As Wilson reached the bottom on the box his hand it a large cookie tin. Wilson fished it out and carefully opened it, praying there wouldn't be any moldy cookies inside. What Wilson found was much odder, at least for something that had belonged to House. The tin was filled with photos.

Wilson dumped the photographs onto his desk and began to confoundedly sort through them. The first set he recognized right away. It was the pictures House had taken with a disposable camera he found in the lobby. Wilson never considered that House would actually have them developed. The black and white stills showed House's original team sitting around frowning at the camera, Cuddy putting a hand up to try to block House's shot and Wilson rolling his eyes at the photographer. Wilson picked up the picture of himself and flipped it over. House had scrawled _classic Wilson _on the back of it in pencil. He turned the others from the set over. Nothing.

The rest of the pictures seemed to be in no particular order. House's college graduation picture, a picture of Stacey reclining on a couch in her pajamas, a very solemn looking five year old House with a cast on his arm. Wilson continued to shuffle through the stack. A black and white picture of a house cat, a three year old House sitting in his mother's lap, a picture of one of House's old cars. As Wilson reached the bottom of the pile he came across a picture Cuddy had taken of House and himself at one of the hospital fund raisers. House was making a face at the camera and Wilson was laughing at some comment House had made earlier. On the back was scrawled _Idiot. God knows why he puts up with me._

Wilson dropped the picture back onto his desk. In House's language the picture might as well have said "best friend" on the back. Wilson turned the rest of the pictures over. Nothing. He replaced the rest of the photos in the tin. Best friend. He was an idiot.

"I want House back." Wilson announced as he entered Cuddy's office.

"Back where?" Cuddy was busying typing at her computer. "There is no way he can come back to this hospital as a doctor anytime soon. If you have finally realized that you miss your….whatever it is you consider House these days…that is not my problem."

"I want to go see him." Wilson continued.

"So go see him. The address of his new residence is in his personnel file. You know where those are. You and House have broken into them enough."

"Has he asked about me?" Wilson asked nervously.

Cuddy turned around. "How should I know? I haven't seen him since the day they moved him out of this hospital. He isn't my employee anymore. Therefore my not my responsibility." Cuddy looked as if she were about to cry.

"How bad is he?" Wilson's voice got very quiet.

"I don't know." Cuddy answered back just as quietly. "I haven't heard anything and I have been afraid to ask. With Rachel to care for and running the hospital….I just can't deal with it right now. I'm sorry I have been so hard on you, that everyone has been so hard on you. I understand…" Cuddy's voice broke. "Just let him know I say hi okay? And that I will be by really soon to see him."

Wilson nodded and made his way to personnel. He scribbled down the address listed in the front of House's file and wasted no time jumping into his car and hitting the highway. "I'm coming buddy." He popped of House's CDs he had pilfered from the box in his office into the CD player and turned the stereo up as loud as it would go in an attempt block out his thoughts as he sped down the highway.


	4. Chapter 4

A side note to anyone reading this chapter: The idiots I have invented for the this story in no way reflect the author's attitude towards anyone employed as a nurse or in an institutional facility of any sort. In later chapters you will note that Wilson decides none of these fictional dingbats have any sort of formal training. That is all...oh yeah and no own and all that.

The building was sure grim enough. The shadow of the massive stone structure seemed to darken the entire lawn. Hopefully it is nicer inside Wilson thought to himself as he entered the dingy lobby. He approached a sagging counter at what appeared to be a nurse's station. "I am here to visit Dr. Gregory House."

A young looking blond girl in a nurse's uniform smiled back at him. "Oh Dr. House! I know him! He is such a sweetie! On floor five in pod two. I can take you to him if you want."

"Thanks. Are you sure we are talking about the same person though? Dr. Greg House?" Wilson gave the nurse a confused once over. "Not many people refer to him as a sweetie."

"Sorry." The nurse apologized. "I call all of the patients sweeties. Not many of them really are though. But it wouldn't really be nice to call someone an incoherent blob in front of their family, now would it?"

"No, it wouldn't." Wilson answered awkwardly as he followed the nurse up the set of stairs. He was beginning to wonder if they hired the nurses out of group of former patients. He was relieved when they reached a landing and stopped in front of a heavy metal door.

"Here you go. Does he know you're coming? Not that it matters I suppose. Have fun. You can find your own way back to the lobby when you're done but be sure to sign out. I'll sign you in. What is your name?"

"James Wilson. Is this door locked?"

"Oh no." Giggled the nurse. "We don't worry about any of these patients opening the door." Wilson shot the nurse a puzzled glance but she didn't seem to notice. "Say hi to that sweetie Dr. House for me."

Wilson shook his head as he heaved open the heavy metal door. The hallway it led to was as dingy as the lobby and stairwell had been. It was lined with metal doors containing tiny windows and seemed to lead to some sort of main room at the end. Wilson followed the hall to the end and froze. Surely the nurse had led him to the wrong ward.

A bunch of catatonic looking patients in wheelchairs sat staring blankly at a wall mounted TV, which seemed to be the only thing in the room besides a set of ugly orange plastic chairs. The dirty floor was covered in grimy browned linoleum and the dusty yellow blinds on the windows were drawn shut. Wilson was about to make his way back to the lobby when he noticed a man strapped in a wheel chair alone in the corner. As the man looked up a pair of bright blue eyes flashed at Wilson.

"House?" Wilson scurried across the dirty floor. As he approached he realized that his friend's arms were strapped down to the chair, as where his ankles. The other man was only wearing a dirty hospital green t-shirt and what appeared to be an adult diaper. "Oh my god. What have they done to you?"

House gave no reply but his blue eyes focused on Wilson. Wilson recognized the look. In was very rare and usually fleeting. House was glad to see him. A small smile began to play at the edge of House's lips. "Wilson." House said slowly.

"Oh my god." Wilson repeated. "Nurse? Nurse?"

Another young looking nurse seemed to materialize out of nowhere. "Is everything okay?"

"Why is my friend tied down like this?" Wilson demanded.

"How should I know? Do I look like his doctor? I just feed em, hose em off and make sure they don't shove anything up their noses."

"Is he okay?" Wilson asked, seemly oblivious to the nurse's prior response.

"His chart is on the wall if you want to check it out." The nurse motioned to a bunch on file folders stabled to a wall. "Or you can come back on Thursday. His doctor should be in then."

Wilson glared back at the nurse. "You want me to leave my best friend tied up in a chair until Thursday?"

"That is your best friend." The nurse looked at Wilson as if he had just explained that he was related to a cockroach.

"Yes."

"Well how come I haven't seen you in here before? If you want to talk to the doctor come back on Thursday. Or you can call."

"Oh believe me, you will be hearing from me very soon." Wilson snapped back. He started to storm down the hallway until he was hit by the fact that he was leaving without saying anything to House. He found House sitting in the same corner, staring dejectedly at his lap.

"Hey buddy." Wilson said softy. "They have you pretty doped up here huh? Of course you probably are enjoying that part of all of this. How many Vicodin have you talked them into? Or is it morphine here?"House looked up. As soon as he recognized Wilson a small smile started to play across his lips again. Wilson glanced around for the nurse. "Can I untie him please?"

The nurse, who was busy wiping snot from one of the catatonic's faces, just shrugged. "I don't care. Just strap him back in again before you leave. I don't want to have to chase him across Hell's half acre."

"Such a caring staff." Wilson whispered to House as he released the straps around his friend's wrists and ankles. As he moved the straps away he found the House's wrists were bright red from struggling against the chair. Wilson put a gentle hand on the irritated skin. "Don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here."

House moved his free hand, seemingly amazed that he was able to move about as he pleased. He reached out and grabbed Wilson's shirt. "Wilson."

"God, you are doped up. I have to go now okay? I'll be back to bust you out of here." House seemed to understand Wilson's words and let go of his shirt. He looked down at his lap again. "Listen House, I am so sorry that I just…well we will talk about this later when you aren't on so many drugs okay?"

House pulled his own t-shirt into his mouth and started to suck on the collar. "What do they have you on? Knowing you, it was your idea." Wilson shook his head as he quickly headed back down the corridor, grabbing House's file as he went.

As much as it killed him to leave House in such an awful place, he had work to do back at PPTH. _He wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you _the little voice in the back of his head reminded him. Wilson slammed the car door and turned the stereo up again. He fished around in his glove box, found the bottle of House's of Vicodin he had stashed there and popped one in his mouth. All thoughts sufficiently snuffed out he headed back to the hospital.


	5. Chapter 5

See earlier disclaimers.

"You what?" Cuddy nearly choked on her coffee at Wilson's request. "Let me get this straight. Just today you didn't even want to deal with a box of his stuff. Now you want to discharge him from the institution and let you take him home?" Wilson nodded feverishly. "Maybe I should call the place and see if they can have you committed as well."

"I know. It's crazy. I've been a selfish bastard. I've only gone to see him once in four months. But you should see him."

"Let me guess. He is screaming for Vicodin and threatening to kill you if you don't get him released?" Cuddy replied lamely. "I'm sorry Wilson. I can't just let you take him home on a whim. I have to think about what is best for House."

"You think being tied to a chair and put in a diaper is best for him." _And it your fault he is there _the voice in Wilson's head taunted. Guilt raked at his insides.

"What?" Cuddy gave Wilson a look of pure shock. "You're joking. Trying to play me like House always did."

Wilson shook his head. "He was so doped up that he could barely talk. All of the nurses I met seemed to be, as House would say, complete idiots. No one could even tell me what was going on with him."

"I could check in." Cuddy said slowly. "Maybe have him moved if need be."

"Please just let me take him home." Wilson pleaded. "I know I don't deserve another chance…"

"This isn't about that." Cuddy interrupted . "I understand why you walked away from House and I apologized for being so hard on you. You were right about him controlling your life, bankrupting it in some ways. If you have walked away, why go back to all that? And how can I know that you won't just get fed up and walk away again?"

"Please. I feel so guilty." You idiot, Wilson chastised himself. Don't tell her that. Tell her you were wrong or that you never really walked away. Guilty isn't going to get you anywhere.

"I am not going to give you House just so you can appease some unnecessary sense of guilt." Cuddy said harshly.

"It's not that." Wilson lied. "I just want to get him out of there." _Because I feel so guilty. _

"Fine. I will make you a deal." Cuddy sighed. "I transfer House back here; detox him off of all of the drugs he is supposedly on, get him reevaluated. Then you talk to his doctor here. If you can get him to agree that going home with you is the best plan for House I will agree to it."

"Okay." Wilson agreed. "If I can be the one to bring him back here."

"Fine. I 'm sure no one else will volunteer to spend that much time in a car with House anyway. Even if he is high as a kite."

"Thanks Lisa." Wilson gave his boss the best appreciative smile he could manage while on House's Vicodin. No wonder House came across so stoic sometimes. The pills made it hard to feel anything, let alone convey those feelings to others.

"I'll let you know when you can pick him up."

The next day found Wilson heading back to the hulking brick building that imprisoned his friend. This time Wilson had refrained from the Vicodin, only taking a few Excedrin as he left the house. He had one of House's favorite jazz CD's in the player and in the backseat was a backpack containing a few of House's prize electronics. Foreman had come across the pack when he was clearing House's stuff out of the office that now belong to him.

"I am here for Dr. Greg House." Wilson informed the nurse at station in the lobby.

"Okay. I don't know who that is. Do you know what floor he is on?"

"Is it okay if I just go up there? I know my way."

"Sure." The nurse pointed to the stairwell.

Wilson easily found his way back up the dingy stairwell. He noticed that someone had swept the stairs and he wondered if that had anything to do with Cuddy's phone call. Back in the hallway of pod two he noticed one of the metal doors was open. House was lying on the bed while a nurse tried to pull a pair of sweat pants over his legs.

"No!" House kicked at the nurse. To Wilson's horror the nurse raised her hand and slapped House hard on the bare leg.

"Stay still you little…" The nurse paused as she noticed Wilson standing in the doorway. "Are you Dr. Wilson?"

"I can do that." Wilson said curtly, snatching the pants away from the flustered nurse. House sat up as he spotted Wilson. "Hey. Let me guess you don't need any help."

"Wilson." House said very seriously. He looked warily at the pants in his friend hand.

"Do you want to put them on yourself?" Wilson asked again holding out the pants.

"I don't have all day." The nurse interrupted. She yanked the pants out of Wilson's hands, shoved House back onto the bed, and forced the pants onto House's kicking form. "There."

Wilson stood there in shock for a minute then quietly asked "Does he have anything else to go home with him?"

"Not that I know of." Wilson was shocked by the lack of compassion show by the staff he had met so far. Most of the nurses he had met at other medical facilities, institutions included, were kind and caring. He wondered if any of the young ladies he had met here even had any formal training.

"Well, I guess we are off then." Wilson said uncomfortably as he got House settled in a wheelchair next to the bed. He made a B line for the front exit. "Everything is okay now. We are okay."House squirmed a bit as Wilson helped into the passenger seat and adjusted his seatbelt. "I know. You hate when I help you with anything. But as soon as we figure out what drugs they have you on you'll be back to doing all this for yourself."

Doubt raged in the back of Wilson's mind. He had yet to read any of House's charts, from the hell he had just come from or from when he was initially admitted to PPTH the night he had tried to hang himself. What if House's brain had somehow been damaged? Wilson remembered his sarcastic comment to Cuddy about lobotomies. He turned up the sound on the stereo and drove faster toward the hospital. He should have taken the Vicodin.


	6. Chapter 6

standard disclaimer here.

The next few days were sheer hell for Wilson. He couldn't visit House at the hospital because his presents might interfere with the results of the testing and he couldn't bring himself to go over any of House's charts. He tried to absorb himself in his work but after snapping at a few longtime patients he ended up taking the rest of the week off. Wilson found himself indulging in two of House's favorite past times, getting drunk and watching TV.

By the end of the week Wilson was as rumpled and scruffy looking as House had always been. He arrived at PPHT to talk to House's new doctor with his hair unbrushed and a half a week's worth of stubble on his face. He shirt wasn't even tucked him and he hoped the cologne and mouthwash he used masked the smell of the glass of gin he had chugged early that morning.

"Dr. Wilson." A man whose lab coat identified him as Dr. Henry Jarvis greeted Wilson warmly. Wilson tried to fake a smile as he shook the other doctor's hand. "Please sit down."

"So, um, how did things go?" Wilson asked nervously.

"Well I have some good news for you. After realizing who you were as I glanced at your file, I see no reason why Dr. House shouldn't be released into your care. Though knowing of Dr. House through the grapevine I might have to question your sanity in that fact that you are even friends with him." The doctor joked. His voice became more serious. "However before we agree on anything regarding Dr. House's release we need to go over what will be involved in his care."

Wilson struggled to brace himself for the worse possible news. _This is not your fault _he tried to assure himself. But as much as he tried he could still feel the pit of guilt and self doubt sitting at the bottom of his stomach.

"Going over your friend's records it looks like quite a bit of damage was done to his brain due to lack of oxygen. I am guessing this was caused by his failed suicide attempt a few months back. I am surprised Dr. Cuddy didn't mention this to you sooner. After a few tests it was pretty clear that at this point your friend is very emotionally stable. He showed pretty normal responses for someone who functions on the emotional level of a four year old."

"House has always been very emotionally immature." Wilson agreed nervously.

The other doctor let out a small sigh. "I only know of Dr. House before his incident though stories that get past around the hospital. Meaning to say, I am pretty unbiased about his past behavior, which may or may not be a good thing. I guess what I am trying to avoid having to tell you is that your friend has very serve brain damage. Testing has show that at best he is currently capable of is functioning at the level of a four year old child. Both emotionally and cognitively. It seems that his physical abilities have been somewhat limited as well, though some of the things we found could be due to the prior condition with his leg."

Wilson sat in stunned silence for a minute and then blinked a few times. "What are you trying to say?"

"What I am saying Dr. Wilson is that I want to make sure you are fully aware of what you are getting into. Dr. House will need round the clock supervision. He is like dealing with a little child. His environment will have to be controlled to make sure that he doesn't accidentally harm himself and he will need help performing basic tasks. Do you understand?"

Wilson nodded numbly. If he didn't need a drink before, he certainly did now. He unconsciously began to dig around in his pocket for the bottle of House's Vicodin he has started to carry with him. "Is there any hope?"

"If you mean hope of recovery I am forced to tell you that clinically there is very little. But in my personal experience I have seen people with brain injuries make amazing recoveries." Dr. Jarvis studied Wilson closely. "There is no need for you to make your decision now. You can go home and mull it over, discuss your options with friends and family. We can keep Dr. House here as long as you need."

"Decision?" Wilson blinked again. "Oh no. I mean there is no need for that. He is coming home with me. I mean I made up my mind a long time ago."

"Oh? Well in that case you will at least need some time to get things prepared at home I am guessing. Why don't we arrange for you to pick Dr. House up in two weeks? That should give you plenty of time to get your home prepared for his arrival. If you have any questions or decide you want to look into other options please feel free to call me at anytime. One of my attendants can give you a list we printed up of items you may want to purchase to aid in Dr. House's care. He can also give you a list of in-home nursing agencies in the area if you want to arrange for that."

All Wilson could do was nod numbly again. He accepted a stack of paper on the way out the door and popped a pill into his mouth as soon as the office door shut behind him. He stood in the hallway, studying the lists in his hand. No wonder House had been so happy to see him. He didn't remember that his best friend had betrayed him. He didn't remember much of anything.

Wilson somehow managed to find his way to his own office. He put his head down on the desk and began to cry. Was this his punishment for blaming House for all of the losses in his life? He had to lose House too? Wilson pulled out a bottle of rum from one of his desk drawers. He started to take a sip but instead tossed the container in the trash. He didn't even deserve the comfort that alcohol could bring. He had blamed House for so many things that he had unwittingly destroyed his best friend.


	7. Chapter 7

no own...hope you enjoy. Comments and ideas welcomed and appreciated. I rewrote this chapter twice so I hope it turned out okay.

"Are you drunk?" Cuddy almost dropped the package in her hands onto the porch.

"Well hello to you too." Wilson smiled weakly. "What the place hard to find?"

"No. Though I am wondering how one goes about purchasing a new home in less than two weeks. Especially with the new homeless look you seem to be trying out."

Wilson pretended to be insulted but had to admit he looked pretty bad. He still hadn't shaved and couldn't remember the last time he had changed his shirt. "I guess you never know when having a real estate agent for an ex is going to come in handy. Of course I didn't tell her about House. She probably wouldn't have helped me if I did. She's still mad about the way he treated Hector."

"Wilson buying this house is a lovely gesture. But you need to take care of yourself. And quit drinking. The last thing I need is another House calling in hung over all of the time."

Wilson decided to deflect. "So have you been to see House yet?"

Cuddy sighed. "No. Not yet. I planned on visiting after you brought him home. I did drop off a few things for him at the hospital though. I hope he likes them."

"Dropping things off but not visiting?" Wilson raised an eyebrow at Cuddy as she followed him through the front door.

"I am not being lectured by someone who hasn't shaved in two weeks." Cuddy quipped back.

Wilson hurried into the kitchen and shoved several empty handles of gin under the kitchen sink. "I'm fine Lisa. I've just been busy."

"Great. Now you are even starting to sound like House. I'm fine. I haven't slept in weeks and am living off of booze …but I'm fine." Cuddy looked around the living room. "This place is nice. I thought you ex was the worst agent in Jersey."

Wilson popped his head though the kitchen doorway. "She is. I paid way too much. But the place is perfect for House and she was able to rush along the paperwork for me. I told her I got evicted from my apartment for having a cat."

"All new furniture too?" Cuddy questioned.

Now there was a loaded question. Wilson wondered if Cuddy had any inkling of how difficult it had been for him to hand over the keys to the apartment that he and Amber had shared together. It had taken a very specific cocktail of guilt, Vicodin, and alcohol for Wilson to get up the nerve to box up Amber's things and leave them on the curb for the Goodwill to pickup and he finally had to coerce Chase into removing the bulk of the furniture. He hoped Bonnie hadn't noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath when they were signing the closing papers. Time to deflect again. "Want to see House's room?"

"That's okay. I'm sure you did a great job. I just stopped by to drop off the package. It's a blanket."

Wilson looked a Lisa and gave a sad smile. "You should go see him."

"You should shave." Cuddy raised her eyebrows at Wilson. "I'll see you later. Call me if you need anything."

"Sure." Wilson shut the door behind his boss and tossed the box she had left behind on the couch. He really needed to start unpacking but it could wait. The oncologist pulled the bottle of Vicodin out of his pocket and popped a few pills into his mouth. He really needed to stop taking the Vicodin. But it could wait. Maybe it could all wait. It wasn't like House would notice. Wilson looked down at the orange prescription bottle in his hand. It reminded him of House or at least who House used to be. "You're doing this for your friend." He reminded himself out loud. _The friend that you helped destroy _he thought. Guilt seemed to be the only real motivator Wilson could grasp at the moment. He picked up a box and started unpacking.

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"Are you ready to go?" Wilson asked quietly. House sat staring at the ceiling. He was no longer wearing the horrible hospital green shirt but was dressed in a new black t-shirt and a pair of corduroy pants. Most likely more gifts from Cuddy who seemed to think she was in some kind of gift giving competition with Santa Claus.

"No." House replied. He smiled playfully at Wilson. Although Wilson found the smile unnerving it was House's eyes that really rattled him. One would expect a blank, hollow stare from a set of dull, almost lifeless irises. But House's eyes reminded the same brilliant blue, the same window to his soul that they had always been. Looking into his eyes it was like nothing had changed and Wilson found the deeply disturbing. Already he was starting to question his choice in bringing House home.

Wilson turned away. "Are you ready?" He repeated.

"Yes." House actually giggled. The sound was unsettling. Wilson wondered to himself if he could slip House some Benadryl for the car ride home. He was on enough Vicodin to make driving the car home a probable public safety hazard. House might as well be high too.

"Okay. Let's go." House stuck his thumb in his mouth. Wilson took a deep breath. It wasn't too late to change his mind. The man who had once been his best friend put out a hand and looked at him with bright blue eyes full of trust. Even the Vicodin could drown out the stabbing feeling of guilt in Wilson's gut. House trusted him. It was too late.

"Wilson." House smiled again as he was buckled into the back seat.

"Greg." Wilson replied. He had decided to call House by his first name in hopes to make things feel a little less bizarre. So far it wasn't working.

House seemed to consider this reply until they were almost to the place they would both now call home. "Me." He finally said in a decisive tone.

"Aren't you a genius?" Wilson sarcastically commented back. He immediately regretted this as House shrank away from the sound of his voice. Wilson sighed. He continued in a happier tone. "Look there is our new house."

"House. Me." House pointed out.

"No. You are Greg. The house is where we live." Great they weren't even inside yet and House was already driving him nuts. Wilson once again considered backing out of the whole thing but recognized that the shame of not following through would probably crush him. Not that he didn't deserve as much.

"Wilson. You." Wilson didn't answer this time and House became distracted by the stuffed bear Cameron had given him earlier in the week. He sat picking at its eyes until Wilson unloaded him from the car and led him into the living room.

"Make yourself at home." Wilson gestured around the living room. House looked confused for a minute then sat on the couch sucking on the bear's paw. "No Hou..er.. Greg. That's gross." He pulled the bear's paw from the other man's mouth. House gave him a dirty look. The look was classic House. Wilson found himself becoming unnerved again.

"Time for a nap." Wilson took House by the arm and led him into his new room. House looked around the room and smiled at Wilson again. "Let's get your pajamas."

House sat placidly on the floor watching Wilson pull the pajamas from his new dresser. "No." He said pleasantly as Wilson approached him with the garment.

"Arms up." Wilson tried to maintain a cheerful tone. He would not allow himself become frustrated by a man with the mentality of a four year old, even if the other man was an eerie shell of his former friend.

"Uh-uh." House wrapped his arms tightly around his body.

"God damn-it! Only you could get a brain injury and still be as frustrating as hell!" Wilson snapped. "I should have left you where I found you! No wonder they tied you to that chair!"

"Nooo!" House moaned. He started to cry and back away from Wilson.

The sight of House crying melted away any frustration and replaced it with renewed remorse. _Look at what you did to him _Wilson thought to himself. _And now you're making him cry too._ "It's okay Greg. Do you want to put them on yourself?" House lifted up his arms. "Do you want to put it on yourself?" Wilson tried again.

House looked up at Wilson as though he was speaking one of the few languages that the former House did not understand. Wilson dropped the pajamas on the floor. He had spent days searching for the perfect home, countless sleepless nights putting things in just the right place, and weeks tormenting himself over the events that had led up to all of this. But not once had he stopped to consider or prepare himself for actually caring for House, for facing the four year old version of his friend day after day. Sure, in the past he had joked about House. He had called him twelve, seven, maybe even four a few times. But that House sure as hell didn't need help putting on a shirt. What if Cuddy was right? What if he was doing this for all of the wrong reasons? What if regret and wanting to make things right weren't enough to get through this?

"Wilson?" House looked up at him, confused.

_Just treat him like he is a patient. Some random adult that has brain injury _Wilson thought. He helped House up off of the floor. "No pajamas. Just nap time." He practically shoved House into bed, tossed the covers over the other man and almost ran out of the room. "Real smooth." Wilson muttered to himself. He had never treated a patient so insensitively. He was pretty sure he could here House crying again in the next room. Wilson walked over and slowly opened the bedroom door.

House looked up at him. He face was tearstained and covered in snot. "Me." He said forlornly, almost apologetically.

Wilson forced himself to sit on the edge of the bed. The sight of the tearstained House made him want to run back into the living room. _It's your fault he's like this_ he reminded himself. "No, not you. Me."

House wiped at nose and sniffed. "You?"

Wilson sighed. "Yup, buddy. It's all me this time. Want to watch TV?"

House sat considering Wilson's offering. He looked like a small child in a storybook trying to decide if the cottage made of candy was a lucky surprise or a trap from a wicked witch who wanted to eat him. "You." House finally returned his verdict.

Wilson went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of whiskey as House sat entranced by the talking yellow sponge on the television screen. He finally sat down on the couch next to his old friend and felt every muscle in his body tense House moved closer and laid his head on Wilson's shoulder. Wilson quickly scooted away. House gave him a quick glance that clearly stated "well fine then" and settled for cuddling his teddy bear which had been left on the couch. Wilson sighed. A least the whiskey made watching the sponge bearable.


	8. Chapter 8

Not mine, just borrowing. *warning* this chapter is a bit sad/dark IMO...but enjoy anyway. April showers bring May flowers. =P

Two hours late Wilson was sick of the talking sponge. In fact he was starting to harbor some pretty twisted thoughts about how he would murder the damn thing if he had a chance. He looked down at House who sat completely enraptured by the television as he cradled his teddy bear in his arms.

"Wanna watch something else?" Wilson asked in mock cheerfulness. House shook his head, eyes still fixed to the TV. Wilson tried again. "Are you hungry?"

This got House's attention. He turned around and gave Wilson that unsettling smile. "Nom." He replied brightly.

"Come again?" Wilson pinched the bridge on his nose. "In English please."

House looked vaguely frustrated. "Nom" he repeated.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He went into the kitchen and threw a frozen dinner into the microwave. As he pulled it out his hand paused in front of a cupboard. He slowly removed a bottle of Children's Benadryl. He wasn't even quite sure why he had bought the stuff but it was about to become very handy. He dumped a good amount of the purple liquid into House's macaroni and carefully mixed it in.

"Nom." House said hopefully as Wilson placed the tray on the coffee table in front of him.

Wilson shook his head in disdain. "Yeah, sure. Vietnam. It was senseless war."

House dropped his fork and looked up at Wilson in pure aggravation. "Nom..nom." He paused, seemly searching for the correct word. "Num?"

Wilson sighed. "Yup. I feel pretty numb too. Now eat your dinner."

_Oh how the mighty have fallen _Wilson thought to himself as he watched House try to shovel the macaroni into his mouth with a oversized plastic fork. Here sat one of the world's great diagnosticians unable to come up with the correct words for whatever the hell it was he was trying to communicate and a supposedly caring oncologist practically taking parenting advice from the mother of a young leukemia patient he had threatened to call Child Services on only a few months before. He still remembered the outrage he had felt when the parent admitted she dosed her son with Benadryl every night to get him to sleep.

"Who have you become?" Wilson wondered out loud.

House looked up. "Who?" he asked as he yawned and rubbed his eyes. Apparently the medicine was already having the desired effect on its unsuspecting victim.

Wilson quickly switched off the TV silencing the now hated sponge. He grabbed House by the arm. "Time for bed." He started dragging him towards his room.

"Nom." House whimpered, reaching out toward the tray of food on the coffee table.

"No, Bedtime." Wilson said firmly. He pulled House through the doorway and shut the door. Although Wilson plainly recalled House's doctor's tactful advice to dress House in pajamas and "adult protective underwear" at bedtime Wilson just couldn't find the energy. He grabbed a towel, threw it down over the sheets and practically shoved House onto the mattress. "Nite."

"Me you?" House looked up sadly as Wilson switched on his nightlight.

"Just go to sleep. Please." Wilson sighed as he left the room. He sat down on the couch and cracked open a bottle of bourbon. He stared at the bottle in his hand, not understanding what had caused him to treat his best friend in such a callous manner. He certainly wasn't angry at House. All of the anger he had at the moment was reserved for himself. Maybe, Wilson tried to rationalize; it was just being faced with the constant reminder of what he had done to his once best friend. But that made no sense. As guilty as he felt he should be caring for House not drugging him and dragging him crying off to bed.

Before Wilson had time to further brood about his earlier actions the doorbell rang. Wilson sighed as he stashed the bottle of bourbon in the coffee table drawer and got up to see who it was. Probably Cuddy coming to shower House with more gifts.

"Hello." Cameron and Chase replied in unison as they made their way past Wilson, not even waiting to be invited in.

"I hate to tell you." Wilson informed his uninvited guests. "But Greg is in bed. I'll be sure to tell him you dropped by though."

Chase smiled. "I don't think he's in bed." Wilson turned around to see House rushing past him as fast as his limp would allow, teddy bear in hand.

"Cammie! Chase!" House said happily. He paused in front of his former employees. "Nom?"

"Sorry hon. We didn't bring you any snacks." House stuck out his lower lip at Cameron in a classic show of displeasure. "Aren't you going to give me a hug?"House's smile quickly returned as he gave Cameron a quick embrace. "Why are you all wet?"

"No." House replied sweetly, grabbed Cameron by the arm and led her off to his room.

"Well it looks like you two are taking this well." Wilson said grumpily. "I bet Cameron is enjoying herself."

Chase shrugged. "At least I don't have to worry about her running off with House anymore, even if he did just drag her away by the arm." Wilson frowned. "So what Cameron says is true then. You did lose your sense of humor."

"No. It's the Botox. I'm actually as thrilled as Cameron about this whole situation. In fact this." Wilson gestured around the room. "Is what I have been dreaming of my entire life. Greg with a brain injury."

Chase shrugged. "I don't think Cameron is any happier about this than anyone else. She just…"

"Dr. Wilson." Cameron interrupted. "I think House…"

"Greg." Wilson corrected.

"Greg spilled something on his bed. He's all wet and it looks like he tried to clean it up with a towel?"

"Great." Wilson grimaced. "I'll take care of it later." Both of the other doctors in room gave Wilson a look of confusion. "I mean the bed. I'll wash the sheets later. Of course. Greg!"

House nervously shuffled his way into the living room. "Me you?" he asked quietly.

"Come on." Wilson roughly grabbed him by the hand and led him into the bathroom. "Strip." Wilson ordered, turning away. The last thing he wanted was to see House naked.

"Nom?" House asked. Wilson was forced to turn around. He knew he would have to see his friend undressed sooner or later but the later the better.

"Just take off your damn clothes. You're covered in what I am only guess is piss."Wilson took a deep breath as House's lower lip began to tremble. Why couldn't he just think of House as any other patient? He couldn't even seem to speak to him kindly. Wilson tried again. "Time for a bath."

A light bulb seemed to turn on in House's head. He quickly undressed and climbed into the empty tub. "Me you?" he asked again hopefully.

Wilson didn't answer. He turned on the faucet and dumped way too much bubble bath into the running water. After only a few seconds he pulled the plug and started hosing House down with the shower head.

"Aaahh." House whined.

Wilson stopped. What was he doing? The sight of House sitting there so causally naked somehow repulsed him but that was no reason to hose the man down like a muddy dog. "Sorry buddy. Too cold?" He turned off the water and motioned for House to get out of tub. Handing the now shivering House a towel he turned toward the bathroom mirror.

"Ouch." House moaned. Wilson turned around. Standing there clutching the towel House resembled a twisted cross between his former self and Linus from the Peanuts comics. It was too much. Wilson threw open the bathroom door and found himself face to face with Cameron.

"Looking for these?" Cameron held out a pair of House's pajamas.

"Uh yeah. Thanks." Wilson said a bit dazed. "I think his leg hurts. Can you get me some of Greg's Vicodin suspension out of the fridge? It's the red stuff in the clear bottle, fridge door."

Allison nodded. "You know." She called from the kitchen. "That reminds me. Cuddy wanted me to let you that you need to cancel House's prescription for Vicodin pills." She returned to the hallway and handed Wilson the bottle of suspension. "She said is going to let whoever has been picking them up go this time but if they do it again she will be forced to take disciplinary action."

Wilson reached down and felt the bottle of Vicodin pills in his pants pocket. Almost empty. "No problem."

"Dr. Wilson…"

"I'm fine Allison. Greg is fine. We are just one happy family." He returned to the bathroom, shutting the door in Cameron's face. House sat on the edge of the tub shivering. Wilson held out the pajamas as he poured some of the Vicodin into Greg's mouth. "Here put these on."

House looked helplessly at the garments in front of him as he forced down the cherry flavored liquid. "No. You."

Wilson felt himself becoming frustrated. Clearly House was just being stubborn. "Fine. You want to act like a baby?" He put down the bottle of suspension and pulled a box of the discreetly labeled "adult undergarments" from under the sink. Wilson had expected House to have some kind of negative reaction, even though using the contents of the package was probably necessary at this point. Instead he just eyeballed the carton with curiosity.

"Nom?" he asked wiping at his mouth.

Wilson heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't know what "nom" is Greg. Just come here." Wilson dressed House as quickly as possible, feeling a deep sense of disgust. The sight of what used to be his friend was not only horrifying to Wilson, it had now become pathetic. If House could see himself now he would probably beg for someone to put him out of his misery.

"Wilson." Greg said softly as Wilson finished pulling the pajama shirt over House's wet curls. He gave Wilson a big hug. Wilson had to admit the hug was a bit disarming but it didn't erase his earlier feelings completely.

"Back to bed." Wilson said softly. He gently pushed Greg back to his bedroom.

"I changed the sheets." Cameron said as she entered the room. She watched as Wilson carefully covered House with a blanket.

"Thanks." Wilson said. His voice gave away his fatigue.

"You know, if you can't handle it you should just take him back." Cameron shut door behind them. "There are other people who can take care of him without becoming alcoholics or dosing themselves with Vicodin."

"You think you could do this job? You think is easy? Watching someone who was a genius play with a teddy bear and piss his pants?" Wilson snapped. "Of course you do! You love this! You have him right where you want him! No way he can stop you from caring about him now!"

"Allison, I think it's time to leave. Dr. Wilson is obviously very tired." Chase intervened. "Let's go."

"Did you hear what he said?" Allison glared at Wilson. "He…"

"Let's go." Chase pushed his girlfriend toward the door. He turned. "You know Wilson; you better figure this stuff out quickly. Or they are going to take Dr. House away from you. I know you feel guilty but wallowing in self pity won't help either of you."

Wilson said nothing. He watched the door close and made his way to the couch. Laying his head in his hands he began to cry softly. Suddenly he felt a warm body pressed up again his. "Me you?"

Wilson looked up and shook his head. "I don't know buddy." He said sadly. "I don't understand what you're saying and I don't know what you want or need. Just go back to bed okay?"

House seemed to understand and padded back to the bedroom leaving Wilson alone to cry.


	9. Chapter 9

disclaimer here....

Wilson rubbed his eyes and looked up at the clock. Who would be knocking at this hour? He prayed silently that wasn't Cameron or Chase returning for another round of lectures. "Coming."

"Took you long enough." Cuddy joked as Wilson threw up open the door. She shook the snow from her coat and set a large box down in the entry way.

"You know it doesn't count as a visit if he is asleep." Wilson pointed out. "And playing Santa doesn't cancel out the fact that you haven't been to see him once in four months either."

"Well chasing off all of his visitors with your new cuddly persona doesn't bode well for you either." Cuddy countered. "I hear you had a little run-in with Cameron and Chase earlier."

"I was just tired." Wilson replied lamely."Cameron can get a bit…tedious after awhile.

"So I take it she gave you the message about the Vicodin?"

Wilson decided to change the subject. "What's in the box? More goodies for Greg?"

"It's some stuffed animals. People have given me so many for Rachel that I have run out of places to put them. I was careful to give you all of the ones that talk, squeak, chirp or bark."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Great. I'm sure he'll love them. You know how Greg loves to annoy people. He almost did me in with two hours of Sponge Bob today."

"So change the damn channel. You need to learn to deal with him James or this is never going to work out."

"Great. Just what I need. More lectures. Any other pointers on why I am a subpar caregiver for Greg? I need to share my feelings more? Buy him more toys? Take him to Disneyland?"

"No." Cuddy snapped. "You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, take a damn shower and quit drinking. If you can't handle it, just admit it. Find him a nice place to stay and visit him on the weekends. Quit thinking if you torture yourself enough you will feel better. Obviously it isn't working."

Wilson just shrugged. "He's fine. He doesn't know what is going on around him."

"If that is how you feel why didn't you just leave him tied to the wheelchair?"

"Why haven't you been to see him in four month?"

Cuddy gave Wilson a sad smile. "I need to go. Rachel needs me. Please take care of yourself James and consider what I said. I'll be by later in the week okay. I need to know when you will be able to come back work."

Wilson stood in doorway watching the snow hit the ground as Cuddy's car pulled out of the driveway. Slowly he returned to the couch, forgetting to close the door as he went. He pulled out the bottle of bourbon again and slowly drank away the sharp pain Cuddy's words had cut into his conscious.

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He woke to a blast of cold and the sound of the wind blowing through the entryway. "Greg?" Wilson's head throbbed as he peeked through the door. His bed was empty."Greg?"

Nothing. As he shut the front door he noticed the footprints in the snow. "Greg?" He ran down the driveway. House sat huddled in the snow in his pajamas.

"No you me. No Wilson." House said sadly. His lips were turning blue.

Wilson felt anger rising in his gut. "What are you trying to pull? I spend all this money trying to give you a nice place to live and you decide to sleep out here in the snow?" He knew his outrage was completely irrational. House was probably just fascinated by the sudden snowstorm. But the anger bore down on his like a freight train. He couldn't stop it. He grabbed House by the arm and pushed him into the car. "You don't like it here. Fine. Leave."

"Wilson!" House began to cry. He braced himself against the car door. Wilson felt his anger peak. He raised a hand and brought it down on back of House's leg as hard as he could. "No! Ouch!" House began to sob.

Wilson froze in terror. What the hell had he done? He stared at House who had collapsed sobbing into the backseat of the car. He was a monster. He got in the car and started to drive.

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"Here taken him." He shoved the dripping wet House at Cameron as he entered the ER.

"What the hell happened?" Cameron demanded as Wilson tried to outpace her.

"Will you please just take care of him? I'll be in Cuddy's office." Wilson lost Cameron in the crowd as he quickly walked to the elevator. By the time he reached Cuddy's office he was in tears. "I hit him." Wilson rasped.

"Who hasn't?" Cuddy didn't even look up from her computer. "Are you bringing him back?"

"Did you not hear me? I hit him."Wilson said a bit louder.

"So you lost your temper and smacked him across the ass. What parent hasn't? Learn to control your emotions and don't do it again or give him back."

"I was just so anger…I lost it and he looked so scared." Wilson sniveled. "I'm a monster."

"I am sure you scared him." Cuddy agreed. "And it certainly wasn't very caring of you. But unless you socked him in the nose or beat him with a belt you aren't a monster. Just someone who isn't handling their emotions very well and needs to get control of them. Or realize you are in too deep and give up."

"I hit him and that is all you have to say?"

"Did you beat him? Did you knock him down and slap him around? I doubt it. Knowing you, especially lately, you gave him a tap on the diapered ass. I agree, it was wrong. But I am sure one day I am going to lose it with Rachel and say or do something I regret. Hopefully it will be something as unepic as what you did to House. Taking care of another person is hard James. You don't think Rachel makes me want to down a few bottles of gin sometimes? And she is baby, not my former best friend with a brain injury."

Wilson sunk himself into a chair. "Does Rachel ever wander off into the snow and cause you to get so mad that you completely lose it?" Wilson gave an exhausted sigh.

Cuddy looked up a Wilson. "Listen James, I know you feel guilty about all of this. And probably terrible about losing your temper. Leave Greg here for a couple of days. Go home. Shave. Pour all those bottles of alcohol and Vicodin down the sink and really consider if this is all worth it. Not just for yourself but for Greg. He deserves to be cared for by someone who can take care of him without killing themselves." Wilson nodded and got up to leave. "You know James, you can't blame yourself for what House did. You didn't stick him in that bathroom and tell him it was time to end it all. He did that himself."

Wilson turned around. "I told him I didn't want to be in his life anymore."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "I thought that was normal banter for you and House. How many other times have you and House fought? How many times have you been best friends hours, days, weeks, months later? It wasn't your fault. It was his pain, his misery, his stubborn personality that caused this. You can blame yourself for being a horrible friend after it all went down but you cannot blame yourself for all of those other things. If you do you are just as much of a narcissist as he was."

Wilson nodded again and let without saying a word. In the ER he found House sitting in a bed and eating a bowl of oatmeal. "Hey." Wilson said softly.

"Wilson!" House dropped the bowl of oatmeal onto his lap. "You me?"

"He is going to be fine." Cameron came up behind them. "He was just a little chilled. We got him into some dry scrubs and warmed him up for you. He is ready to go home."

Wilson turned to Cameron. "Transfer him up to psych. He's not coming home with me." Wilson turned and left before Cameron could say anything.

"Wilson! No! Wilson!" He could hear House howling behind him. He turned for a second to see Cameron and a couple of nurses retraining House to keep the older man from running after him. "Wilson! Me! Me!" Wilson turned back and headed for the exit.


	10. Chapter 10

standard disclaimer. No own and all of that.

Back at home Wilson stood in the hallway staring at House's empty bedroom. House's teddy bear sitting on the end of bed seemed to stare back at him. He would be sure to drop that off at the hospital for House. Wilson shut the door and stood staring at himself in the hallway mirror. The place felt so empty with him there. What the hell had happened? Where did he go wrong? Me. Me you. House was constantly repeating it. What the hell did that mean anyway? Me. You. Me you.

Wilson sat down on the couch. The hopefulness or sadness in House's voice every time he repeated his new little mantra was enough to break anyone's heart. Wilson pulled the bottle of bourbon from the coffee table drawer and went to the kitchen. As poured it down the sink House's old voice entered his head. _Are we okay? _He was always saying that. Are we okay?

We. Me. You. We. Me you. Wilson let the bottle fall into the sink and shatter. "Oh House." Wilson began to cry again. It all made sense. All House had wanted from him was to know that they were okay. Well that and food. For some reason it was pretty clear what "nom" meant now too. "I am so sorry buddy."

Wilson looked around the kitchen as a plan formed in his head. He grabbed the other bottles of alcohol and dumped them down the sink, then tossed the remaining Vicodin pills into the trash. He made his way back to the living room and dialed Cuddy's number. "If I have counseling appointments on the weekends will you watch Greg for me?" Wilson blurted out excitedly as Cuddy answered the line.

"What now? Counseling? For who?" Cuddy's voice almost sounded bored.

"For me. Who else. To stop drinking and being miserable and to be able to take care of House again."

"James, are you high?"

"No. I figured out what House was trying to say. Me You…us! He wanted to know that we were okay!"

"You got a whole life changing epiphany out of a brain damaged man saying "Me you"? And you want me to believe that you are perfectly sane and capable of taking care of Greg again even after you hit him for going out in the snow?"

"Not just any brain damaged man. It was House. Don't you see Cuddy? He is still in there somewhere! He just needs people to listen."

"I knew I should have had you committed along with him while I had the chance. Come get him back. But." Cuddy's voice got very stern. "After this no second chances. I am not going to have you dumping him off at this hospital every other weekend because your sudden jolt of inspiration turned out to be a picture of Jesus someone from EBay carved in a cheese sandwich. One screw up and he is gone. You better stick with that counseling. No drinking. No dosing yourself. And no dosing House either."

"How did you…?"

"I have my sources. And If I ever hear of you hitting him ever again I will call the cops so fast it will make your head spin. You got it?"

"But I thought you said.."

"I said what I thought it would take to get you to pull your head out of your ass and get it together for House. Now do you agree to these terms or not?"

"Yes. Yeah. Of course. Thank you Lisa."

"Don't thank me until you've come back and picked up House. He is down there throwing a fit and driving Cameron crazy. She was sure you'd pull yourself together and come back for him."

"Okay. See you soon." Wilson hung out the phone and raced back to the hospital. "House?"

House froze at the sound of Wilson's voice. The nurse he was about to kick backed gratefully out of the way. "Wilson?"

"Hey buddy." House threw his arms around his long time friend as he approached the bed.

House looked up at Wilson with glistening blue eyes. "Me you?"

Wilson smiled back. "Yeah. We're okay. I can't make any promises but I am going to try really hard okay?"

House seemed to digest this for a minute. He looked back up at Wilson. "Nom?"

Wilson couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, buddy. We can stop and get something to eat. I guess I'm paying huh?"

House nodded and slid off the bed. "I guess you two are going home then?" Cameron, who had been observing the unfolding scene, asked.

"I guess so." Wilson replied as he took House's hand.

"You know it isn't going to be as easy as it is in a Lifetime movie right?" Cameron smiled.

"Of course not. I don't think any Lifetime production would dream of casting me or House for a role."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Yeah. That's what makes it so different."

"You and Chase want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Nom?" House asked looking at the two of them. The other doctors both laughed.

"See ya tonight." Cameron smiled.

Author's note: I thought about just ending the story here but decided that would be took much of a cop-out. I mean just because Wilson can understand two phrases House says doesn't make things all peaches and cream right? Not to mention it would be WAY to Lifetime movie (not I don't occasionally indulge in such things) to have Wilson just walk away from his current crutches after one epiphany. I mean Cuddy was right...we have all seen miracles turn out to be something someone carved into a cheese sandwich..but then again we have all seen things happen against all odds too. So I guess what I am trying to say is the story isn't over yet. Hopefully someone is still interested and will keep reading...even if it does turn out to be one of those fictional nurses from the institution wanting to see if they are mentioned again =P


	11. Chapter 11

disclaimer: not mine, just borrowing. No money-s are being made from this story, though I could really use some at the moment. Hope you enjoy the continuation of this tale. =)

"Do you want fries with that?" Wilson stood at the fast food counter contemplating which would be less messy, apple dunkers with caramel sauce or fries with ketchup. Suddenly from behind he heard a very loud

"Dr. House! I know you, you sweetie! When did they let you out?" coming from behind him.

Wilson turned around just in time to see House scuttling backwards into a display case, knocking it over. He before he could explain to the clerk why he needed to step out of the line for a minute a large, pimple faced teen in a fast food uniform stood between his friend and the young lady who had frightened House into knocking over the case. "Dude, what is your problem? Are you like retarded or something?"

The young lady interjected. "I know him. His name is Dr. House. He used to live at the institution I work at."

Wilson quickly jumped out of line. "Sorry." He said sheepishly. "My friend got a little scared." He put out a hand. "Come on Greg. It's okay." House let Wilson help him up off of the floor.

The pimple faced teen's eyes grew wide. "Your friend is a crazy guy? Is he like going to stab someone or some shit?"

Wilson rolled his eyes. "We'll use the drive-thru. Come on Greg." House grabbed Wilson's hand and followed him closely to the door. When they reached the exit the older man turned and stuck his tongue out at the young nurse and the teenager fast food worker.

Wilson couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

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"Greg, knock it off!"

House pulled the string on a large stuffed dog. _I'm Scooby-dooby doo and I'm hungry for a Scooby-lious Scooby snack!_

"You can play with Scooby, just stop pulling the string. Please." House went to pull the string on the toy again. "I mean it. One more time and that thing is going up on a shelf."

Chase laughed. "And you thought understanding what he says would make this all a cake walk."

"I never said cake walk." Wilson stirred a large pot of spaghetti sauce. "More of a cake throwing contest. Greg, put that down! I really need to put locks on these cupboards."

"Hey buddy can I see that?" Cameron, who sat at the kitchen table slicing bread, asked sweetly.

"No." House dropped the large pan he had been carrying to the kitchen floor. "Nom?"

"Not quite yet." Wilson replied. "Why don't you take Scooby to the living room and watch some TV."

"No." House said cheerfully as he sat back down on the kitchen floor to retrieve the stuffed dog.

"Is that the word of the day?" Chase sat down on the floor next to his former boss. "Or do you just like getting on Wilson's nerves like old times? Can I see Scooby?"

House frowned. "No." Chase laughed.

Suddenly the backdoor flew open. "Hey guys. What's cooking?" Foreman stood in the doorway holding several large boxes. He looked over at Cameron. "Or maybe I should ask whose cooking?"

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Very funny. You've had my cooking before. It's not that bad."

"Don't worry." Chase grinned up from the floor. "Wilson is doing the cooking tonight." Chase and Forman both laughed as Cameron scowled at her boyfriend.

"Hey." Wilson turned from the stove. "This is a nice surprise. Greg go say hi to Foreman."

"I hope you don't mind." Cameron said quietly. "I kind of invited everyone from House's teams. I thought it would be fun."

"The more the merrier." Wilson said warmly. "I cooked enough to feed an army."

"Well we brought desert. We being if I can ever get Remy out of the car." Foreman set the packages on the kitchen counter.

House looked up. "Nom?"

"Say hi to Foreman." Wilson instructed. House made a face.

"Man." He said rolling his eyes.

"Foreman, remember." Foreman corrected.

House made another face and pointed at Foreman. "Foreman." He went around the room pointing. "Jimmy Wilson, Cammie, Chase." He paused and pointed at himself. "Greg."

"Good job." Foreman smiled.

House made a face again. "No." He sat back down and pulled the Scooby doll in the pan on the floor.

"Are we late?" Kutner and Taub can through the same entrance Foreman had come through minutes before. Kutner held up a bag. "We could decide on what gift to bring. I wanted to get Dr. House the newest Pokémon game because I know he loves Gameboy…"

"But." Taub interjected. "I thought we should get something practical. So we settled for a blanket with a Pokachu on it."

"We also brought soda. And it's pronounced Pikachu." Kutner frowned at Taub.

Wilson smiled. "Well now that we're all here. Let's eat." He turned to Cameron. "Unless you invited the rest of the hospital staff?"

Cameron shook her head. "Just Cuddy. But she said she would probably be late."

"Okay then. Well I made two kinds of noodles. Regular spaghetti for those of us who can properly operate a fork and macaroni noodles for those of us who would probably end up wearing spaghetti in our laps. Come sit at the table Greg." House sat down and watch suspiciously as Wilson piled food onto his plate. "Eat up."

House pushed the plate away. "No."

Wilson sighed. "I thought you said you were hungry? You've been bugging me about "nom" for the past hour."

House looked up at his friend in frustration. "No…no." He seemed to be searching for a word again. "No…bed."

"You don't have to go to bed buddy. Just eat your dinner, okay." Wilson said in confusion. Suddenly the meaning of House's words struck him like a ton of bricks. The older man remembered eating the macaroni laced with Benadryl and becoming sleepy. Feeling like the worst person in the world Wilson smiled at House. "No sleepy. Just nom."

House eyeballed Wilson warily again. "You."

"Look." Wilson picked up House's fork and took a large bite. "See. It's good." House watched Wilson for a few seconds. Satisfied, he took the fork and started shoveling food into his mouth.

Foreman laughed. "Are you his taste tester now too?"

"Wilson's always been House's taste tester." Chase pointed out. He turned to Wilson. "So when are you coming back to work?"

"I'm not sure." Wilson sat down at the table.

"Are you coming back to work?" Cameron asked.

"The mortgage on this place isn't going to pay itself. And I don't think Greg is going to be returning to the clinic anytime soon unless someone needs a diagnosis of "no" or "nom." Honestly it will be a nice change of pace too."

"Speaking of the clinic." Foreman pointed to the other box he had brought with him. "I found House's Xbox 360 in one of the exam room cupboards. Says property of Dr. Greg House on it, anyway. I don't know if he still can use it, but it seems to be all there. Even a game in the machine."

"Game?" House's eyes seemed to light up at the word. He started to leave the table.

Chase laughed. "Leave it to House. He forgets how to tie his shoes but remembers his Xbox."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "House always did know how to prioritize didn't he?" He turned to House. "Finish eating first okay?"House stuck out his tongue but sat back down at the table. "Is Thirteen going to be joining us?"

"I doubt it." Foreman sighed. "She said she rather sit in the car because quote 'hanging out with your retarded ex boss is creepy and weird'. She sends her regards though."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Really sweet…oh Wilson!" House was leaning across the table trying to fish some bread off of the edge of Wilson's plate.

"Oh Greg, no. You're going to knock over the table. Here." Wilson handed House a piece of bread. House looked at it and dropped it onto the table. He leaned over again, quickly snatched Wilson's bread and began munching away at it.

Chase grinned at Wilson. "Some things never change."

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"Bye. See you later. Drive safe." Wilson shut the front door. "Are you ready for bed buddy?" House lay curled up on the couch with his new blanket and an Xbox controller in his hand, fast to sleep. Wilson smiled to himself. "Come on buddy. Let's get you into bed huh?"

Having people over had really helped. So did seeing House interact so happily with his former coworkers and employees. It was good to know that he wasn't alone in caring about his friend and that House would happily welcome those people into their home. Wilson gently shook House awake, changed him into his night clothes and helped him into bed. "Now to get some practice in." Wilson sat down on the couch and flipped the Xbox back on.

"Am I late?" A voice came from the entry way. Wilson wandered into the hall, Xbox controller still in hand, to see who it was.

"Are you playing video games?" Cuddy laughed as she followed Wilson into the living room.

"Trying to get some practice so I can keep up with House." Wilson turned off the machine and sat down. "I thought for sure I could beat him this time but he still managed to kick my ass, along with Chase and Kutner's. The things his brain has chosen to remember." Wilson shook his head.

"So the whole gang was here huh?"

"Yeah. Well Thirteen stayed in the car. But I think Greg enjoyed himself. And it was a nice distraction from that damn Scooby toy you left him…oh and from trying to flush my cell phone down the toilet."

"What?" Cuddy laughed. "And you didn't try to dump in off at the hospital again after that?"

Wilson shrugged. "I think I have a better understanding of him now. At least I hope I do. At least I didn't feel like drinking myself to death. Though I wouldn't mind if Scooby were to somehow disappear. He just went to bed. I can get him up if you want."

Cuddy shook her head. "It's okay. I should get home. Sorry I didn't come by sooner."

"Are you still planning on watching him this weekend?"

"Yeah. Yes. Of course. Why? Are you trying to back out of seeing the counselor?"

"No. No. Nothing like that. I would just feel a lot more comfortable leaving him with someone he's met before."

Cuddy looked a bit hurt. "Are you suggesting that House remembers video games but he doesn't remember me?"

"You never know with Greg." Wilson pointed out. "I'm surprised his brain didn't erase the memories of me to make room for how to operate his I-pod. Just say hi. He's half asleep. He'll probably smile, yawn and want to go back to bed. Maybe give you a hug. You have to get this over with eventually."

"Coming from the man who didn't go to see him for almost four months."

"Coming from the man who realized that was a huge mistake and is trying to make things right." Wilson corrected. "Come on Lisa. He was so happy to see everyone else. I bet he will be thrilled to see you too."

Cuddy sighed. "It's just so hard. I know he was your best friend…but I…I had some other sorts of feelings towards him. Ones I never even got to deal with. And now Cameron says he drags a teddy bear with him everywhere ?" Cuddy's eyes started to tear up. "I just don't know if I can handle seeing him like that."

Wilson moved closer to his boss and put an arm around her. "It's hard." He agreed. "It kills me to see him like that…it almost did kill me. Even now, as glad as I am to have brought him back here, it rips me up inside. But I just keep telling myself I am doing this for him. If he didn't have us, the people who care about him, he would be alone. I realized that after I dropped him off at the hospital. I don't want him to be alone. He's still in there somewhere and he needs us."

Cuddy sniffed. "I know." She looked over at Wilson. "But I am starting to think I liked you better when you wanted to leave him at the hospital. That least then I got to be the self-righteous one."

Wilson laughed. "I'll go get him. Be right back."

A few minutes later a very drowsy House sans teddy bear wandered into the living room. He rubbed his eyes and flopped down on the end of the couch. Cuddy gave him a nervous smile which was quickly returned with a very sleepy one. "Hey Greg." She said softly.

"Say hi Greg." Wilson sat in between the pair.

House yawned. "Lisa."

Wilson noticed the tears glistening on Cuddy's face. "Go give her a hug." He encouraged. House scooted over and gave Wilson a small hug, resting his head on his friend shoulder. "Thanks pal. But wrong person. I'm "him" not "her"."

"Bed." House complained as he got up and gave his former boss at quick hug. He looked hopefully at Wilson.

Wilson nodded. "Okay. Back to bed. It was a busy day huh? Maybe tomorrow you'll be too tired to flush anything of mine down the toilet."

House yawned and followed Wilson back down the hallway. "No." He mumbled sleepily.

Wilson chuckled as he returned to the living room. "Still stubborn as hell."

Cuddy smiled. "I am glad to see you are handling this better James. I hope you can keep it up. It must be so hard."

"It will be easier when I get back to work. I hate to say it but it will be nice to get a break. To see other people on a regular basis, get back in touch with my patients. I just need to figure out what to do with Greg while I'm there. I really don't trust anyone but else but you and maybe Cameron to watch him."

"We'll figure something out." Lisa said quickly. "I can really use you back. The clinic has been really backed up ever since you left and most of your patients don't seem to care for your temporary replacement."

"Okay then. Well it was nice of you to drop by. I'll give you a call Friday night and see you Saturday okay?"

Cuddy gave Wilson a big hug. "Thanks James. I'll see you then. Take care okay?"

"You too." He followed her to the door, careful to make sure it was closed tight as she left. Wilson sighed as he sat down on the couch. Leaving House with a babysitter. Even if it was Cuddy he had a feeling that it wasn't going to end as well as he hoped.

author's note: sorry for the short, silly part at the beginning of the story. Those darn nurses demanded another part in this tale. =P


	12. Chapter 12

sorry I didn't have this up sooner...document manager wasn't working for me yesterday. Standard disclaimer goes here.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Wilson stood in Cuddy's hallway gripping tightly to House's backpack.

"James, quit worrying. We'll be fine."

"We don't have to this. I can still back out. I can bring him with me."

"Me?" House looked up at Wilson from where he was sitting on the floor playing his Gameboy. Wilson gave him a reassuring smile. He hoped House wasn't picking up on his sudden anxiety.

"We will be fine." Cuddy insisted. She took the backpack and pushed Wilson towards the door. "You just go to your meeting. Don't worry about us, right Greg?"

"Nom." House said without even looking up. Wilson studied his friend closely. He seemed relaxed despite the change of scenery. _You need to relax._ Wilson told himself _it's only for two hours. _ House grinned up at him and asked again. "Nom?

"Sorry bud I'm leaving…tell Lisa what you want." Wilson encouraged. House let out a frustrated sigh. "Come on."

House tossed his Gameboy on the floor. "Nom." His voice relayed his aggravation. Wilson shook his head, giving a clear sign that he wasn't going to give in. House chewed on his bottom lip for a second then finally slowly turned to Cuddy and pointed at Wilson. "Bad."

Wilson laughed. "That would be Greg's new word for the week. First everything was no. Now everything is bad. Are you sure you can handle this?"

Cuddy nodded but was already feeling a little less sure as House started tugging on Wilson's pant leg. She had spent hours going over Greg's files and reading the doctor's reports. She had talked to everyone who had encountered Greg since Wilson had taken him out of the institution. But somehow she just hadn't expected things to be this bad. Despite Wilson's constant assurance that House was in there somewhere she just didn't see it. All she saw was a grown man tugging on someone's pant leg for attention. "We'll be fine." She repeated, more to herself than to Wilson.

"Okay. My cell will be on if you need anything. And Cameron said you could call her for back up if all hell breaks loose." Cuddy's anxiety began to show through. "Don't worry. Your right, you'll be fine. I'm just worried because this is the first time I've left him alone with anyone. We went over everything twice last night. All of his things are in his backpack. If all else fails turn on that wretched talking sponge."

Noticing Wilson's hand on the door knob House started whimpering. "Wilson! Wilson! No!" He threw himself to the floorboards and grabbed on to Wilson's pant leg. "Wilson! Bad!"

"It's okay buddy." Wilson pried House's hand from his pant leg. "You are going to stay here with Lisa. I'll be right back, okay?"

House paused and looked up. After a moments consideration he gave a firm. "Bad."

"No. You're being bad. I'm going to be late. Please be good okay?" Wilson gave House a quick hug. "Look. Lisa has your backpack."

"Do you want some lunch Greg?" Lisa asked holding up the backpack. House turned and reached for the bag. She felt like a trainer dangling a treat in front of a dog.

Using the momentary distraction to his advantage Wilson gave Cuddy a quick wave and slipped out the front door. Hearing the door shut House looked over and realized his companion had left him. His bottom lip began to tremble. "Wilson bad."

"No honey. Wilson just has a meeting to go to. He'll be back. I promise." She hated talking to House like he was a toddler but she didn't see any alternative. Wilson spoke to him in the same condescending manner and House seemed to respond well to it. Cuddy began to wonder if her former star doctor even understood half of what was being said to him.

House turned around and glared at Cuddy irritably. "Wilson!" he yelled.

"Greg please." Seeing House throwing a tantrum shouldn't have been this disturbing. Even before the incident he was constantly in her office pitching a hit. She tried to reason with him as if he were his old self again. "Greg, you need to keep your voice down. You are going to wake….." As if on cue a loud cry erupted from the back of the house. "Perfect. Just stay put okay? I'll be right back." Cuddy rushed into Rachel's room and lifted the sobbing infant from her crib. "Are you okay sweetie?"

Cuddy lay the now quiet baby girl down on her changing table. "Looks like someone is wet. It's okay. Mommy will…." Lisa heard the front door open. "Crap. Mommy will be right back, okay?" She lifted Rachel and gently lay her back down in her crib, then rushed to the front entryway. House stood there chewing on his shirt sleeve and gazing out into the street.

He turned to face Cuddy. "House."

"That's right. You are Dr. House." She quickly remembered Wilson's advice about the television. If all else fails. "Why don't we go sit down in the living room? I can put on Sponge Bob for you." The sound of Rachel's crying came flooding down the hallway. She looked back at House. The sight of the grown man standing there gnawing at his shirt was unsettling. She didn't know how Wilson did this day after day.

House stamped his foot. "No. Greg me. House." He balled up his fists in frustration. "House."

Cuddy shut the front door. "Let's go to the living room." She tried again. She headed in that direction, hoping House would follow but he stood stubbornly in the entryway. Rachel's cries grew louder. "Fine stay there. I'll be back." As she walked through the doorway to Rachel's room she heard a loud crash. "What the…?"

House sat on the living room floor next to a tipped over bookshelf, which had very narrowly missed hitting the coffee table. "Wilson….House…." He bawled. Down the hall Rachel started screaming.

Cuddy pinched the bridge of nose. This was too much. She picked up the phone and started to dial. "Hello? Yeah, can you come get him? I know….I know….Thanks." Both Rachel and House were still sobbing when she hung up the phone.

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"So what happened?" Wilson asked in confusion.

"Apparently." Cameron smiled. "House is a danger to infants everywhere. She called me and I went and picked him up."

Wilson sighed. " This is all my fault. I knew I should have taken him with me. Is he okay?"

"He's fine…Cuddy on the other hand... I think dealing with House and the baby was just too much. He wouldn't stop screaming after you left, he knocked over a shelf…."

"He knocked over a shelf? Is Rachel….?"

"Relax Wilson. I think Cuddy would have called you if House squished her baby with a shelf. Rachel was in her room. And even Cuddy admitted that shelf is in a bad place and should probably be secured to the wall. Greg was just upset and probably bumped into it."

Wilson sighed again. "He can be pretty clumsy. I had to move his dresser because he kept tripping over it. Totally disrupted the Zen flow in the room. Was he good for you at least? No screaming or destruction of furniture"?

"He was fine. He has just been sitting in front of the TV and asking about you every ten seconds. I think he stopped crying for me because he thought I was taking him home. In fact…" Cameron paused. "Greg! Wilson's here!"

House suddenly materialized from a doorway. Spotting Wilson his face broke into a huge grin. He shuffled over and threw his arms around his friend. "Wilson!"

"It's only been two hours buddy." Wilson laughed but inwardly felt uneasy. "What are you going to do when I go back to work?"

"Go?" House looked up, a look of fright playing across his face.

"No….not now. We are going home. How does that sound?" _Great. Even mentioning the word "go" was sending Greg into a panic._ Wilson frowned to himself.

Cameron noticed the other doctor's sudden change in expression and pointed out. "I bet things would have gone a lot smoother if Cuddy had come over to your place instead. Maybe you should try that next time."

Wilson ran his fingers though his hair. "Yeah. Maybe. If Cuddy will even come near him after that." He turned to House. "Let's go buddy." House let out a yawn. "Are you sleepy already? It's only four o'clock."

"He seemed a little lethargic while he was here."Cameron responded. "Being the in ER earlier this week could have exposed him to a flu bug."

Wilson shook his head. "I'm sure he's fine. He probably just wore himself out screaming and throwing himself around on the floor. Thanks again. Come on Greg."

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"So I hear things didn't go as planned." Wilson sighed as Cuddy answered the door. "Don't worry; the wild beast is confined to the car."

"I'm so sorry Wilson. He was crying and the baby was crying." Cuddy looked stressed to the nines. "I didn't expect it to be so…"

"Difficult?"

"Stressful." Cuddy sighed. "I should have known better. I mean look how many problems I had with Rachel in the beginning. I can help you find someone else to watch him."

Wilson shook his head. "It's okay. I'll figure something out."

"Are you sure…?" Cuddy questioned skeptically.

"I didn't realize how stressful leaving him for a few hours would be ." Wilson replied. "For both us. I spent that whole meeting worrying about him."

"So you aren't going back next week?"

"No, I am. I just need to figure out something else for Greg."

"I'm so sorry James. Are you really sure....?"

"It's fine." Wilson answered quickly. "He is my responsibility, not yours or anyone else's ."

"That's not true James. You aren't the only one who cares about him."

"Why don't you come visit him sometime." Wilson said with a touch of chill in his voice. "We'll see you later." He quickly returned to the car, only to find House fast to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

quick author's note: I wrote this when I was sick...so decided someone in the story should be sick too. Hopefully doesn't read too much like "filler"...disclaimer here and enjoy!

"Are you okay? Do you want to go to bed?" Wilson gave House a concerned once over as the other man pushed away his sports bottle of juice and rubbed his eyes.

"No." House said sleepily. He laid his head on the coffee table.

"No you aren't okay or no you don't want to go to bed?" Wilson asked playfully.

House pushed the sports bottle off of the table. "No." he repeated.

"Well you sure are grumpy for someone who isn't sleepy. Do you want to sit with me on the couch and watch a movie? How about Pirates of the Caribbean? You liked that one last time."

House gave a small nodded and scooted up onto the couch. He curled up into a tight ball. "You." He motioned for Wilson to sit next to him as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Maybe Cameron was right about you coming down with something. You haven't been yourself since we got home." Wilson put a hand on House's forehead. "You are a little warm."

"No." House pushed Wilson's hand away. He motioned for Wilson to sit down again. "You."

"At least drink some more of your juice. You didn't touch your dinner." He tried to hand House the sports bottle but the other man let it drop to the floor.

"No nom. Bad." House mumbled as he snuggled closer to the back of the couch. He was asleep halfway through the opening credits. "That's it. Bed time." House hardly seemed to notice as Wilson helped him to his feet and led him to his bedroom. He sat quietly and let Wilson change him into his night clothes and tuck him into bed without saying a word. "Not even one "no"? You really are feeling under the weather aren't you?"

Great. House was sick and it was all his fault. Wilson chided himself mentally for leaving House with Cuddy. House was after all his responsibility. He was the one that decided to bring him home and he should be the one to take care of him. "I should have just brought him to the meeting with me." Wilson muttered as he flipped on House's nightlight.

Closing the door quietly behind him he made his way into the bathroom. He paused in front of the medicine cabinet. "You aren't dosing him." Wilson reminded himself. "He is sick. If he has a fever this will bring it down. And he really needs to get some sleep this time_."And if just happens to get you some time to catch a nap, all the_ _better._ Wilson tried to shake off that last thought. He was doing this to make House feel better, not to get him to sleep like the last time. Still washed in a feeling of self doubt Wilson returned to House's room with the bottle of Nyquil. "Hey buddy. I need you to sit up for me okay?"

House sat up, only half awake. "Bad." He pointed at the bottle in Wilson's hand.

"No." Even though Wilson knew it was only because he had recently gotten after House for trying to play in the medicine cabinet, House's reception of the medicine sure wasn't making him anymore confident in his decision."It is only bad when you take the bottle from the cupboard and try to open it. It is okay for when you are sick."

"Nom?" House asked rubbing his eyes.

"Not exactly. In fact, it tastes like crap. But it will help you feel better." Wilson poured some of the green liquid into a plastic cup and handed it to House. Eyeballing the bottle in his hand Wilson also took a gulp himself. He rationalized that House would be asleep so he might as well get some sleep as well…it had nothing to with the fact that Wilson felt horrible for stressing House out when he left him with Cuddy or the fact the sudden sense of sole responsibility for House was giving him a migraine . If even it had everything to do with….Wilson's though process was interrupted by House's reaction to the taste of the medicine.

"Bad!" He spat as he dropped the cup on the floor.

"Sorry." Wilson smiled apologetically. House lay back down and rolled over on his stomach. Wilson sat rubbing his friend's back until he was sure he was asleep before wandering back out into the living room and passing out on the couch.

"Wilson!!!" A mournful cry came from House's bedroom. Wilson sat up and looked at the clock. It had only been an hour. House should still be feeling the effects of the Nyquil.

"Coming buddy." Wilson said drowsily. He stumbled into House's bedroom and switched on the light.

"Wilson." House repeated.

"Oh god. I am so sorry Buddy." House's covers were soaked in vomit. House shivered as Wilson pulled them away and tossed them into a hamper. "Why didn't you call me sooner?" Wilson knew the answer. House had called and he didn't hear him.

"You." House whimpered as he continued to shiver. He clutched his teddy bear that had thankfully been spared from the mess. Wilson put his hand on House's forehead.

"You're burning up. Let's get you cleaned up okay?" The front of House's pajama shirt was not as lucky as the teddy bear had been. Wilson stripped House down to the disposable underwear he wore to bed. "I am so sorry." He repeated.

"Bed." House mumbled as Wilson led him to the bathroom. He began to shiver harder as Wilson wrapped him in an oversized towel.

"Sorry Greg. I have to take your temp." Wilson quickly put the thermometer in Greg's ear. One hundred and four. Wilson felt panic rush over him like a wave. "It's okay. You're a doctor. You can handle these things." He told himself. He turned to House in mock cheerfulness. "You wanna go for ride? We can visit our friends at the hospital." House didn't respond as Wilson quickly stuffed him into a pair of clean pajamas, wrapped him in blanket and rushed him out the door.

Wilson jumped in the car. He didn't even notice running over a kid's bike that had been left in the street as he sped towards the hospital.

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"Gregory J House. Here is his medical card. He used to work as a doctor in this hospital."

"Poor dear." The kindly looking nurse in the ER waiting room smiled down at House, who sat shaking in a wheelchair. "We'll get to you as quickly as possible Dr. Wilson."

"Thank you." Wilson went to sit down but felt a finger poke him in the back. He turned around.

"Foreman saw you pull in. Fever and vomiting?" Thirteen asked in an overly clinical manner.

Wilson nodded. "Fever of 104 the last time I checked."

Thirteen nodded back. "I read the intake nurse's notes. Follow me. Foreman got you guys a room upstairs."

A bit dazed Wilson pushed House's chair to elevator, trying hard to keep up with Thirteen's quick pace. "Pediatrics?" Wilson questioned as they got out.

"The rest of the team felt the staff up here would be more….understanding…of Dr. House's special needs. Room 412. It's private. I have to go attend to our real patient now." Thirteen left Wilson standing in the hall.

"Bad." House moaned.

"I know buddy. She did treat us pretty bad didn't she? Or are you feeling worse?"

"Hey, Dr. Wilson. Over here." Kutner stood in the hall motioning to a doorway. "We got you guys the best room in the place."

Wilson pushed House into a large private room painted a cheerful tone of blue and decorated in brightly colored frogs sitting on lily pads. Even the blankets on the bed were covered in a busy pattern of frogs, shooting stars and various zigzags. Wilson could see why House's team had chosen the room. House would probably feel much safer here, in a room similar to his at home, then in the dreary adult patient rooms on the lower floor.

"So what do you think?" Ask Taub who was sitting on the bed. "A suite fit for a king?" He looked down at House. "I heard you aren't feeling too hot. We are going to let Wilson get you changed and then have a nurse come get you some fluids okay?"

House didn't respond. "He's kind of out of it." Wilson apologized. "I'm sure he will love the room when he's feeling better. Do you have a gown for him?"

Kutner nodded. "I found him this awesome one with monster trucks on it. I don't know why someone would shove it all the way to the bottom of the pile. It should fit." He handed Wilson the gown as Taub left the room. "He looks pretty bad. We better get this party started." Kutner started to pull the curtain. "Do you need anything else….?"

Wilson tossed his car keys at Kutner. "His backpack is in the back seat. His teddy bear should be back there too." Kutner nodded and left Wilson to change House into the gown.

"Easy." Wilson soothed as a nurse inserted an IV into his friend's arm. "These aren't the scary nurses from the last place." The nurse gave Wilson a dirty look as she left.

"My diagnosis is food poisoning. From Wilson's cooking." A voice came from behind him.

"Thanks Foreman. I see you survived eating my cooking."

"Just kidding, man." Foreman gave Wilson a light pat on the back. "So I hear the big man isn't feeling so well. Vomiting and a fever?"

"He threw up all over his bed." Wilson frowned, knowing he was partly to blame for the mess.

"Any sort of meds to bring the fever down?"

"I gave him some Nyquil but it didn't stay down. Cameron said he had been acting a bit out of it when I picked him up earlier today but….well I'm sure the rumor mill had done its job."

"Could have been the stress of being left alone with Cuddy that set this off." Foreman said seriously. Wilson's brow wrinkled. "Just kidding. You need to quit being so hard on yourself, Dr. Wilson. House is lucky to have such a good friend. If it were me I would have left him sitting in a parking lot a long time ago, like before this all happened."

Wilson relaxed a bit and gave a small smile. "I would say he would do the same for me but…."

"It's House." The pair said in unison.

"I'm going to give him some acetaminophen to get his fever down. Once we can keep that down and keep a few Popsicles in his stomach we'll send you two home okay? "

"Thanks Foreman. You guys didn't have to go through all of this trouble."

"I could see the stress coming off of you in the parking lot. Just relax and let us take care of this. Go sit in that comfy recliner over there and watch some TV."

"I got the backpack." Kutner jogged through the door. "Here's your keys. Do you want me to give him the bear?"

"Mine." House pointed at the bear groggily as Foreman shot the acetaminophen into his IV.

"That's a new one." Wilson rubbed his eyes. "You can give it to him. If you hand me his bag…."

"You just let the nurses take care of that." Foreman interjected. "Get some rest."

Wilson sat down and forced himself to keep his focus on the television screen. He tried to relax. "Wilson! Ouch!" House called. He turned the TV up a bit louder. "No! Wilson!" Wilson finally got up and moved to House's bedside. "What's the matter?"

"Ouch." House sniffled. He pointed to his arm where the IV went in then pointed to his stomach.

Wilson reached down and rubbed House's shoulder. "I know. You feel like crap. Why don't you try and get some sleep? Look you knocked your teddy on the floor." Wilson retrieved the bear and tucked it under House's arm.

"I'm just taking his vitals again. I'm trying to be gentle but he keeps kicking me." Kutner spoke up.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take over?" Wilson asked. "I'm a doctor too, you know."

"He is going to have to get used to other people taking care of him when you go back to work." Foreman pointed out.

"How is his fever?" Wilson deflected.

"Down to 102 already. You should sit down. Get some rest. We can handle this." Foreman assured.

Wilson reluctantly agreed, letting his eyes slip shut as they refused to focus on the television screen.

When Wilson woke again sunlight was shining through the small window. House was sitting up in bed eating a bowl of Jell-o while Dr. Chase sat at the end of the bed keeping him company.

"No fair." Chase teased. "You took my favorite flavor. Now what am I supposed to eat?"

House took a bite of the Jell-o and gave Chase a devilish smile. "Nom." He replied.

"Oh, I see how it is." Chase laughed. "Well I guess you are the one that's sick so…" Chase produced a large stuffed bear from under the bed. "I'll still give you this. It's from Cameron. Not that you don't have enough stuffed animals already."

House dropped his spoon onto the bed and reached for the new bear. "Mine?"

"I'm still wondering where he picked up "mine" from." Wilson commented.

"Dr. Wilson." Chase turn to oncologist. "We thought you'd fallen into a coma. Cameron and a few of the nurses were starting to argue over who got to keep House."

Wilson rubbed his eyes. "Are you sure they weren't arguing over what out of city hospital to dump him at?" He stretched. "How you feeling buddy?"

"He's much better. Still has a slight fever but he has kept down a few popsicles, some Jell-o and a glass of juice. We can discharge him now if you'd like but Foreman wanted me to tell you that you could leave him here longer if you need a break."

"We're fine." Wilson said quickly. "I'll just get him changed out of the gown and we'll be on our way."

"When he came in last night you said you'd given him some Nyquil…"

"He was sick." Wilson snapped. "I wasn't dosing him to get him to sleep. I was trying to help him feel better."

"I know." Chase said gently. "I wasn't accusing you of anything. I just wanted to make sure things were still going okay and let you know that we are all here for you if you need anything. If you need a break you can always call one of us."

"Sure." Wilson nodded. "Where's his backpack?"

"Over there. The clothes he was wearing when he came in are on the dresser."

"Thanks. And tell Cameron thanks for the bear." House sat trying to decide which was more interesting, the new bear or the bowl of Jell-o. "And tell House's team…well House's former team thanks for last night. We'll see you guys later."

"Would you mind if Cameron and I stopped by sometime?"

"I'll give you a call when Greg is feeling better."

Chase nodded, then turned to leave. He paused at the door and turned back to Wilson. "You know, you don't have to do this alone right?"

Wilson nodded but wasn't really listening. He was too busy packing the rest of House's things back into his backpack. "Come on buddy. Let's go home."

As Wilson pushed House into the lobby he noticed his friend was already acting listless again. He also felt a little groggy himself. A bit dizzy in fact. He tried to balance himself against the House's wheelchair as the room seemed to spin but to no avail. He felt himself slip and everything went black.


	14. Chapter 14

another chapter, another disclaimer.....

As Wilson opened his eyes the first thing that he noticed was the IV that had been inserted in his arm. The second was the fact he was being yelled at. "You idiot!"Cuddy bellowed. "What were you thinking? You're lucky you didn't crack your skull open when your head hit the lobby floor! How many days has it been since you've eaten anything? Are you listening to me James?"

Wilson rubbed his eyes. "Where's Greg?"

"He's upstairs." Foreman, who has just stepped into the room, answered. "His fever is back up and we're running some tests. But you don't worry about him. You need rest. Cuddy is right about you being lucky. That lobby floor is no pillow."

"Upstairs?" A look of panic crossed Wilson's face. "Upstairs where?"

"In the nuthouse." Foreman said seriously. Wilson's eyes grew wide. "Will you relax? He's upstairs in the same room he was in last night. The nurse didn't even have time to change the sheets before you fainted in the lobby. Now quit worrying about House and get some rest. I'm sure at least one person on the hospital staff is qualified to take care of him and right now that person is not you."

Cuddy sighed. "I have to get back to my office." She turned to Wilson. "We'll finish this discussion later."

Wilson grimaced as Cuddy left the room. "Discuss is Cuddy code for she is going to yell at me. Can I at least go see him? I probably scared the crap out of him."

Foreman shook his head. "The *banana bag attached to your arm says no. And I don't blame Cuddy for wanting to yell at you. A doctor suffering from malnutrition? Even you have to admit, it's kind of sad."

"I've just been…preoccupied."

Foreman rolled his eyes. "Too preoccupied to eat? You've been feeding House right? Did it ever occur to you that when he was eating you could sit down and eat too?"

"I've been stressed too. When I get stressed my stomach gets upset and I don't feel like eating. I was so preoccupied with taking care of Greg I guess I just didn't notice how long it had been."

"Long enough to make you pass out it a pretty long time to go without eating. You better find a better way to manage your stress or Cuddy is going to think you still can't handle House and take him away from you." Foreman pointed out. "I have to go check on another patient. Can I have a nurse get you anything?"

Wilson shook his head. He watched carefully as Foreman left the room and disappeared down the hallway. As soon as he was sure the other doctor wasn't coming back Wilson grabbed his IV pole and hobbled over to the dresser. After quickly slipping back into his underwear so his ass wouldn't be on display though the hospital gown, Wilson crept into the hall. The IV pole made it hard to be sneaky but he found his way to the service elevator and up to pediatrics without anyone asking any questions. As he approached House's room he could hear the other man throwing a tantrum.

"What's going on in here?" Wilson snapped at Dr. Hadley, who stood stuffing something into a biohazard bag. As Wilson drew closer to his friend he could see that Greg was in restraints.

"Wilson." House snuffled. "Bad."

"Why aren't you downstairs?" Thirteen demanded. "Where's Foreman?"

"Why is he in restraints?" Wilson demanded back.

"He keeps trying to pull his urinary catheter out and he tried to bite me." Thirteen replied back coolly. "I had to take his bear away from him because it got blood on it, which wouldn't have happened if he had been properly restrained when I was trying to draw his blood."

"Mine!" House yelled pointing to the contents of the biohazard bag. "Mine!"

"What the hell is going on in here?" Cuddy and Foreman stormed though the door.

"Dr. Wilson…" Thirteen began.

"You, shut up." Cuddy was in full administrative mode. Wilson opened his mouth to say something. "You shut up and go sit down in that recliner. Everyone is this hospital has seen enough of your tighty whities for one day." She looked over at House. "What's the matter honey?"

Thirteen took a deep breath. "I had to put him in restraints because he kept trying to pull his catheter out and because he tried to bite me when I took his teddy bear away. I had to toss it because it got blood all over it when he flailing around during a blood draw. I personally think that both Dr. House and Dr. Wilson's cases are waste of this teams' time. House just has a slightly elevated temp and Dr. Wilson is an idiot who can't figure out that he should stop and eat a sandwich."

Cuddy frowned. "Get down in my office. Now. If you would have taken the time to go over House's file you would have seen the note saying not to use a urinary catheter on him because he will just pull it out, not to mention the part about him having a traumatic experience with being tied down to a wheel chair while he was institutionalized."

"Maybe you think it's cute to have him lying around here in his diaper, but I don't. It's nasty. I shouldn't even have to deal with this…."

"My office now!" Cuddy barked. Thirteen's eyes grew wide and she scurried quickly out of the room. Cuddy turned to Wilson. "As for you, I don't know where to start. Do you care about your own health and safety at all? Do you have a new fascination with self torture? You can stay in this room but if I catch you out of that chair even once without a nurse's help you are going to regret it. Do you understand?"

Wilson nodded sheepishly. "Can I at least….?"

"I got it."Foreman interjected. He turned to Cuddy. "I think I can handle it from here. You go deal with Remy. And believe me; I will be having words with her when we get home tonight too."

Cuddy picked the biohazard bag containing House's teddy bear off of the floor. "Will you clean this up and give it back to Greg?" Foreman nodded. "I'll see you." She pointed at Wilson. "Later."

As Cuddy left House began to whimper again. "It's okay." Foreman said gently as he released House from the restraints holding him to the bed and carefully removed the urinary catheter. He shook his head. "I don't know what's gotten into her. She's been a real bitch ever since House got here last night."

"Not to defend her actions but everyone does have their different way of dealing with things." Wilson said tiredly. He yawned.

Foreman pulled the teddy bear from the biohazard bag. "I don't consider treating someone with brain damage like crap dealing with things." He ran the bear's paw under the sink, quickly dried it off and handed it back to House. "There you go big guy. All fixed."

"Mine." House said, contently snuggling the bear. He looked over at Wilson. "Ouch?"

"I'm going to be okay buddy. I just need to take a little better care of myself, that's all."

"And you both need some sleep. The acetaminophen has brought Greg's temp back down again but we need to find the cause. It shouldn't have spiked again so quickly after you checked out. And you just need rest."

"So, I hear you girlfriend tied up House and is now it trouble with Cuddy." Kutner came bustling noisily into the room. "Do you think she'll get the hairbrush or the riding crop?"

"Will you quit being a pervert and run your damn tests?" Foreman snapped. "I assume that's what you came in here for? Or did you just come up here to make lewd comments about my girlfriend and Cuddy?"

Kutner snickered to himself as he moved over to House's bedside. He started to move the blankets back and paused. "Wow. You might want to go stop Thirteen's execution. Look at this." He held up the bag House's catheter had been hooked to. "I think she just solved our case. Holy bladder infection batman!"

"That is some pretty nasty looking pee." Foreman agreed. "But I'm not going to stop Cuddy from yelling at her. The only thing Remy did was save you from having to get a piss sample…I was going to have you check blood and urine for infection. Get that down to the lab and when you find infection bring up a bag of IV antibiotics." Kutner quickly hurried out of the room, bag of urine in hand.

Wilson seemed to be suddenly lifted out of his sleepy haze. He looked over at House who was curled up on his side cuddling with his teddy bear. "How could he have gotten a bladder infection?"

"If he indeed has one I am willing to venture a guess." Foreman sat down on a stool next to Wilson's recliner. "Reading his file, that place he was locked up doesn't sound very clean or very caring. I am willing to bet poor Greg spent a good amount of time sitting in his own filth. That's where he got the infection. But when he came home with you it started to go away. When I was over at your place I noticed he was constantly sipping on a sports bottle. What do you put in that?"

"Juice." Wilson answered. "Cranberry-grape. It's always been Greg's favorite. He drinks it by the gallon."

"And it was probably that juice, especially the cranberry in it that was flushing out Greg's system. But then he came down with the flu. Could have picked that up anywhere. The flu made his stomach hurt and caused him to vomit so he stopped drinking the juice. The infection had time to build up in his system again and he got really sick. The fluids we gave him last night are probably the reason he seemed to get better."

"That makes sense." Wilson yawned.

"Now get some sleep or I'll have one of the nurse's give you a sedative that will knock you out until next week." Foreman threw a pillow and a blanket at Wilson. "I'll have someone bring you up some lunch in a little bit. You slept through breakfast."

Wilson pulled the blanket over himself and tried to curl up in a ball but the IV made in impossible. He finally settled for laying half curled on his side and pulled the pillow over his head. "Nite Greg."

"You." He heard House mumble. "Mine."

Wilson chuckled to himself as he drifted off to sleep. He woke hours later to someone shaking him gently."Dr. Wilson?" Cameron looked down with concern.

"How long have I been asleep? Where's Greg?"

"He's over there in his bed…he's all tangled up in his covers." Cameron smiled affectionately. "He was up a little while ago though. They got him started on IV antibiotics and he had some lunch. You, on the other hand, slept right through it. Are you hungry? I can have one of the nurses get you something."

"That sounds great." Wilson stretched. "I am feeling a lot better. Any idea when we can bust out of here?"

"I overheard Foreman saying that House can be discharged again tomorrow morning. I am guessing that means you will both be going home. Unless you pass out in the lobby again."

"I think that was a onetime thing."

Cameron sighed. "You really need to let other people help you, Dr. Wilson."

"People keep telling me this but the first time I took that advice Greg got accused of being a potential baby killer and the second I found him tied to his bed. I think…."

"I think that Cuddy is making Thirteen regret being such a complete bitch and that Cuddy feels really bad about what happened last time. You should give her another chance. Let her watch Greg for you again over at your place. You know she really does care about him."

"Is that why she never comes to visit him?" Wilson grouched.

"She told me she has spent all of her spare time trying to get that nasty institution House was in shut down. She's even willing to take them to court if she has to."Wilson looked unconvinced. "She cares about you too. Why do you think she was so mad about you passing out in the lobby? She told Chase today it was bad enough losing House and that she can't stand to lose you too. You two aren't just more employees to her. She thinks of you as friends."

Wilson ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you think she would even want to watch him again?"

"Why don't you ask her?" Cameron stood up from the stool she had been seated on.

"Hi James." Cuddy smiled from the doorway. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Stupid but better."

Lisa laughed. "You just need to make a little time for yourself. Relax a little. Believe me I know how stressful looking after Greg can be. I couldn't even handle two hours let alone full time. But I think Cameron is right. We should try again, over at your place. I can have the nanny stay with Rachel."

"You'll have someone watch your kid so you can come over and watch Greg?" Wilson puzzled.

"Trust me, it beats having the two of them screaming at once." Cuddy insisted. "I guess you could always ask Dr. Hadley to watch him…."

"Did you fire her?" Cameron asked intently.

"No. I wish I could have slapped her a few of times though. She is suspended for two weeks without pay. And I'm pretty sure Foreman is going to have her sleeping on the couch for a few weeks as well. He was pretty upset with her."

"If Chase did something like that I would kick his ass from here to next week." Cameron sniped.

"Advocating domestic violence now?" Wilson raised an eyebrow.

"No. But what she did really pissed me off. I need to get going. I am supposed to meet Chase in the cafeteria in ten minutes. Take care. Give Greg a hug for me when he awakes up."

"Me?" House sat in bed and held up his teddy bear for Cameron, who gave him and the bear a quick hug.

"See you later. Bye Greg."

"Later." Wilson turned to Cuddy. "You'd really be willing to watch him again?"

"I may have overreacted last time. And Greg and I need a chance to get reacquainted, right Greg?"

House seemed to consider this a moment, then looked over at Wilson. "Ouch?"He climbed out of bed and sat down on the arm of the recliner, dragging his IV pole along for the ride. "Wilson?"

"I'll see you boys later. I was just checking in to make sure everyone was doing okay." Cuddy quickly turned and left. Wilson noted the look of discomfort on Cuddy's face as she made her exit and wondered if she only agreed to give watching House another chance out of guilt. He was quickly distracted by House tugging on the sleeve of his hospital gown.

"Ouch?" House pointed to Wilson's IV.

"It's not that bad. How are you feeling?"

"Bad." House replied. He pointed at the TV. "Mine?"

"No that belongs to the hospital. Do want me to turn in on for you?"

House nodded. "No." he said happily.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "We have got to starting working on your vocabulary. Can you say "Please"?"

House crawled back in bed and patted the mattress next to him. "You."

"Sorry buddy, I have to stay in this chair. Cuddy's orders. Can you say "please" for me though?"

"You." House whined. When Wilson didn't respond he sat chewing his lower lip, looking as if he were about to cry. Finally very slowly he said "Peas…peas…pl..ease. You." He looked at Wilson. "No peas."

"Good job!" Wilson was taken by surprise, especially at House's connection to the word's meaning. He was also impressed by his friend's apparent understanding of what peas where. House always had a great dislike for peas.

"You." House whined again. "Please?"

"Okay. How about a compromise? " Wilson got up and shoved the recliner closer to the bed. "Happy now?"

"No." House lay back down and rolled over on his stomach. Wilson gently pulled the covers back over his friend and began to rub his back.

When Foreman came to check on them a few hours later he found both men asleep, Wilson's head resting on House's mattress. He shook his head and quietly made his exit.

*author's note- you probably know this from watching House MD just in case a banana bag is an IV bag with a bunch of vitamins in it.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's note: I dedicate this chapter to my two most constant and loyal reviewers lhoma320 and FiveforFighting09 (why this chapter? why not?)...a big thanks to everyone else who as read and/or reviewed this fic as well! The story continues and hopefully the lingering results of yesterday's St. Patrick's Day festivities haven't impaired the writing too badly =P

"Yes. I feel ready to be discharged." Wilson surprised himself with that answer. Lies usually made him feel guilty and he would normally obsess over this guilt for days. Now he sat unremorsefully lying to Foreman's face. He was tired of being stuck in the hospital. Trying to hide the fact that he still felt incredibly dizzy Wilson packed up House and started the trip towards home.

"Just one stop then home okay buddy?" Wilson said to House's snoozing form in the back seat. He pulled up to the curb in front of the shopping center and quietly got out of the car. Foreman's words from the previous day were stilling weighing heavily on the oncologist's mind. _You better find a better way to manage your stress or Cuddy is going to think you still can't handle House and take him away from you._ The words played over and over again. "Choosing between stressed induced anorexia and becoming a raging alcoholic….what lovely choice." Wilson mumbled to himself. "James, you are starting to make House look positively normal."

Wilson jumped as he set off a bell tied to the liquor store's entry. He hurried down the aisle. His plan was to buy a small bottle of something without too much punch, only to be used to calm his nerves and hopefully get him relaxed enough to eat a meal or two. But the handle of Crown Royal on the top shelf seemed to smile down at the doctor. He grabbed the bottle and checked out as quickly as a teenager using a fake ID. Heading back to the car he paused in horror as he realized House was no longer napping in the backseat.

"Okay wise guy. I mean it. I need a name and address now or I'm taking you downtown." Wilson spotted House standing at the end of the block. Apparently he had done something to anger a rather large police officer.

Quickly stashing the handle of Crown Royal in the trunk the younger doctor ran to House's rescue. "There you are. I was looking all over for you!"

The cop turned to Wilson in surprise. "You know this character?"

"I am so sorry." Wilson said sheepishly. "My friend suffered a traumatic brain injury a while ago. He…"

The officer's look of annoyance quickly turned to one of pity. "Oh, well keep a better eye on your friend, huh? I thought he was a drunk. Wait here."

Wilson turned to House who was now studying a flock of birds eating trash in the parking lot. "You need to stay in the car. I'm probably going to get a ticket because of you. Do you want Cuddy to take you away from me? Have to go live in a group home somewhere?"

House looked over at Wilson with blue puppy dog eyes. "Me?"

"Yes you. You were very bad." Wilson paused as the officer returned with a slip of paper.

"Fill this out and send it in. It's a form for a medical alert bracelet. If your friend wanders off again we can call you." The officer smiled as he handed Wilson the paper. "You two take care now."

"Thanks officer." Wilson was starting to feel dizzy again. He took House firmly by the wrist and led him to the car. "Be glad that I didn't get a ticket."

"Me? Bad?" House started to sniffle.

"I'm sorry Greg. It was my fault. I shouldn't have left you in the car. I just don't feel very good. Let's get home okay?"

"You bad?" House seemed momentarily confused but was quickly distracted by the discovery of his Gameboy lying on the back seat. "Mine!" He announced happily.

Wilson was relieved when they finally reached their destination. His head hurt and the music from House's Gameboy was starting to drive him up the wall. Feeling a bit feverish he collapsed on the living room couch. "I could really use a drink about now."

"Nom?" House removed his sports bottle from his backpack and held it up to Wilson. He turned it upside down and made a face when nothing came out. "No."

"Sorry buddy. Just let me lay down for a bit and I'll get you some more juice okay?" Pulling a blanket over his head Wilson resolved to only shut his eyes for a few minutes. He was woken suddenly by the sound of pouring liquid. "Greg what are you doing?"

House stood at the coffee table pouring juice into an already overflowing cup. The red liquid flowed freely off of the coffee table and pooled onto the rug. Greg held up the cup for Wilson to see, sloshing half of the cup's contents onto his pants. "You. Nom."

Wilson gingerly took the cup from House's hand. "Umm…thanks buddy. That was really….thoughtful. No more okay? Why don't you watch some TV?"

"Nom." House whined, looking down at his juice covered pants. He stuck out his lower lip and pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

Wilson fully intended on getting up and getting House something to eat but when he tried to stand up his stomach lurched and his legs threatened to rebel. "One minute okay?"

"You bad." Greg muttered, sitting down and turning his back to Wilson. He pulled his teddy bear into his arms and flicked on the TV.

When Wilson woke again the room was spinning. He felt hung over but hadn't touched a drop of alcohol. In fact the handle of Crown Royal was still in the trunk of the car. "Greg?" He looked down and found House curled up on the rug, his tear stained face a testament to the fact that he had cried himself to sleep. Wilson crawled across the still juice-soaked rug and shook his friend gently. "Greg."

House sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Wilson bad."

"I'm sorry buddy. I just really don't feel good. Are you okay? Do you want to come lay down with me for awhile?"

Greg nodded and followed his friend into Wilson's bedroom. As Wilson lay down on the bed he realized this was the first time he had come into this room for any other reason than to change clothes. House crawled up on the bed and curled up into a ball, moving as far away from Wilson as possible.

"Are you mad at me?" Wilson asked softly.

"You." Greg grumbled. Wilson didn't blame House for being upset. He was probably really hungry by now.

"I promise I'll get up in a little bit okay? I'll make you whatever you want for dinner. No peas, okay?"

"No peas." House sniffed. Wilson shivered as he felt himself drifting off to sleep again.

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"Chase! Cammie!" Wilson sat up in bed. It was dark out. How long had he been asleep? He stumbled out into the hallway to find House throwing his arms around his former employees.

"What are you two doing here?" Wilson muttered. He felt queasy.

"You look terrible." Chase noted.

"Thanks. I wasn't exactly planning on attending the Oscars tonight so I thought I'd go causal." Wilson closed his eyes, praying that the pair would leave.

"Wilson ouch." House explained happily. "Me nom?" He looked hopefully at Cameron.

"We were just stopping by to make sure you two were okay. Do you need any help?" Wilson watched Cameron peek into the living room, desperately hoping the lack of light in the room would conceal the mess on the carpet.

"Thanks. We are just…." A loud knock interrupted the frazzled doctor. "Can someone get that?" All he wanted was to be able to lie back down in bed.

As the door opened Thirteen's scowling face came into view. "What are you doing here?" She snapped at Chase and Cameron. "Did Foreman send you to make sure my apology was sincere enough?"

"You should feel awful about the way you treated House." Cameron snapped back. "You…."

"Could care less about the feelings of my brain dead ex-boss? House was an arrogant jerk. Now he is a brain dead arrogant jerk. Why should I…"

"He's not brain dead!" Cameron yelped . "He has a brain injury…"

"He might as well be brain dead…." All of a sudden Cameron leaped at her coworker. Chase and Wilson stood frozen in the hallway watching the unfolding scene.

"Cammie!" House ran over as Thirteen shoved her would-be attacker onto the entryway floor.

Chase snapped out of his state of shock and pulled House back. "No, Greg. Oh my god Cameron, are you alright?" He looked up at Thirteen. "What the hell?"

"She started it." Thirteen shrugged.

"You bitch." Cameron got back up to her feet. "You're lucky…."

"Enough!" Everyone turned to look at Wilson. "All of you. Leave. Now." He paused and looked at Greg, who had started to cry. "Not you Greg. You stay."

"Dr. Wilson I am…" Cameron started.

"Just leave, please. I am sure you all have the very best of intentions. Dr. Hadley, I will be sure to tell Foreman you stopped by and…."

"You can't mean…" Chase began to argue.

"Please." Wilson pulled the crying House out of the doorway and put an arm around him. "We will be fine. Just go home."

Looking deeply embarrassed the trio shut the door behind them. Wilson could hear Thirteen and Cameron hurling insults at each other as they headed down the driveway but he didn't care. He made his way back to the couch and pulled a blanket over his head.

"Nom?"

"In a little bit." Wilson felt horrible for neglecting his friend but too wiped out to do anything about it. He heard House sniffle as he turned on the TV.

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"Wilson? Greg?" Cuddy found the front door to the doctors' home unlocked. She quietly made her way into the living room. House sat naked from the waist down munching from a mixing bowl full of Coco Puffs. A trail of milk led from living room to the kitchen and there was juice all over the coffee table and rug. It took Cuddy a few seconds to spot Wilson. The younger doctor was asleep on the couch, buried under a pile of House's stuffed animals. A sauce pan of milk and cereal was balanced precariously on a stuffed rabbit's head near Wilson's chest. "Greg?"

"Ssshhh!" Greg put a finger to his lips. "Wilson bed." He held up a wooden spoon full of soggy Coco Puffs. "Nom?"

"Where are your pants?" Cuddy asked, surveying the mess in the room. House shrugged and went back to watching TV. "Wilson?"Wilson didn't even stir. Cuddy sighed and moved the sauce pan of cereal onto the coffee table. "Do you want dinner?" she asked House.

"Nom." House held up the bowl of cereal, letting more milk splash onto the carpet.

"That is not dinner. That is just yucky. Let's get some pants on you and then we'll make a real dinner okay?" House looked at the TV screen, then at Cuddy.

"No." He finally agreed happily. Cuddy felt awkward following the half naked Greg to his room and tried to keep her eyes focused on the carpet. "Mine." Greg finally announced as they reached his bedroom.

"Do you know where Wilson keeps your pants and underwear?" Cuddy asked hopefully. Greg paused then nodded his head frantically. He limped out of the room and returned dragging a large box of adult diapers. Cuddy sighed again. This was not how she had planned to spend her evening. "Your pants? And what is that smell?"

"No." Greg pointed to the dresser then to the hamper which still contained his vomit soaked bedding.

"Wilson." Cuddy groaned as she peeked into the hamper. She grabbed a pair of sweat pants out of the dresser and held them up. "Do you do this or does Wilson?"

"No!" Greg howled at the sight of the sweat pants. He sat on the bed and started to kick his legs.

"Come on Greg. Please work with me here." Cuddy struggled to pull up House's underpants. "Believe me this is not my idea of a good time either. Let's just get this over with okay?"

"No! No!" Greg started to kick harder as Cuddy picked up the pair of sweat pants off the bed. "Bad!"

"You don't like these? Do you want to try a different pair?" Cuddy asked, desperate to stop Greg's kicking.

Greg paused and pointed to a dirty pair of pajama bottoms on the floor. "Mine." He said defiantly.

"You can't wear those. They are dirty. What about these?" Cuddy held up another pair of sweat pants.

"No." Greg stuck out his lower lip and pointed to the pants on the floor again. "Mine."

Cuddy sighed. "How about these?" She held up a pair of pajama bottoms identical to the ones on the carpet.

"No. Mine!" Greg's voice got a little higher.

"Fine…go naked." Cuddy started to leave the room.

"Noooo!" Greg whined. He got off the bed and held up the original pair of sweat pants.

"Okay." Cuddy helped Greg finish dressing, wondering if he was always this difficult for Wilson. She grabbed the smelly hamper and started for the laundry room, closely followed by House.

"Nom?" He asked as he watched Cuddy stuff the blankets into the washer. "Please?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Wilson is right. You haven't changed a bit. You are all sweetness now that you want something from me. Do you want to help?"

House seemed to consider the offer for a minute and finally gave a very decisive nod. He followed Cuddy into the kitchen. Cuddy looked around at the mess in front of her. Greg had been busy while Wilson was sleeping. The refrigerator door hung open and a pool of milk gathered at its edge. Coco Puffs littered the floor, intermingling with glass from a broken cup. House picked the box of cereal off of the floor and held it up. "Nom."

"No cereal for dinner. Let's clean up this mess okay?" Cuddy tried to keep her voice upbeat for House's sake but felt herself growing annoyed. Was this how Wilson cared for House all of time? Passing out on the couch and leaving the disabled man to his own devices? Cuddy handed House a roll of paper towels. "Do you want to clean up that milk for me?"

"No." House took the roll of paper towels from Cuddy's hand and tore off a large handful. He threw them onto the pool of milk and headed into the living room with the rest of the roll.

Deciding there wasn't much damage House could do with a roll of paper towels, Cuddy found a broom and cleared the majority of the mess from the floor. As she began to wipe up the milk she heard a loud giggle coming from the living room. "Greg? What are you up to?"

House stood in the living room giggling hysterically. Wilson was still fast to sleep on the couch but now he was not only covered in stuffed animals. House had unrolled the entire roll of paper towels and draped them artistically over the couch and the sleeping man. "Wilson." House continued to giggle.

"Oh Greg." Cuddy sighed. She looked around the living room. "We're going to need a steam cleaner for this rug. Doing you want to go to the store?"

"Me?" House stopped giggling and smiled at Cuddy.

"Come on. Let's just hope they rent out Rug Doctors this late."

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When Wilson woke he found the house empty. "Greg?" Greg's teddy bear was missing. So was his backpack. "Greg?" He looked out the window just in time to see Cuddy's car pull out of the driveway. Wilson started sobbing uncontrollably and collapsed in the entryway. "Lisa no! Please bring him back!"

Wilson slumped against the front door sobbing, unaware of the note that sat on the coffee table.

one more note: Thanks to FiveforFighting for inspiring the "showdown" between Cameron and Thriteen =)


	16. Chapter 16

just a short little chapter because I couldn't leave Wilson crying...disclaimer goes here.

Wilson lifted his head at the sound of a motorcycle approaching the front door. The door flew open and House hobbled into the entryway, shoving a toy Harley Davidson into his friend's face. "Mine!" he announced triumphantly.

"Well I'm glad you had fun." Cuddy came through the doorway carrying a large bag of groceries. She paused and looked down at Wilson. "What's the matter with you? Those stains should come out of the carpet."

Wilson sniffed and wiped his nose. "You're back?"

"You are as bad a Greg. Didn't you see the note on the coffee table? We went to get a Rug Doctor. They were out of them but we did get groceries. Are you okay?"

Wilson nodded and tried to clear his throat. "I thought…."

"Good god James. Do you really think I would willingly come and take on him..." She nodded at Greg who sat pushing his new toy motorcycle up and down the hall. "In the middle of the night? The place was a mess, you were asleep, and I figured you needed the help. By the way is Greg always so delightful about getting dressed?"

Wilson wiped his nose again. "He usually only kicks a few times and then gives up. I'm surprised he even let you get near him with those sweat pants though. He hates them."

"Are you feeling okay?" Cuddy asked again as she walked into the kitchen and set the grocery bag onto the table.

"I've been better." Wilson admitted. "I think I caught Greg's flu."

"Mine?" Greg smiled sweetly as Wilson. He held up the motorcycle again and pressed a button. The motorcycle lit up and made a loud engine noise.

"Oh great. Another talking toy." Wilson rolled his eyes. "And yes, you. Pain in the ass."

"Ass?" Greg said innocently, pushing the button on the motorcycle again.

Cuddy laughed as Wilson panicked. "Oh no Greg. Don't say that..that word isn't nice. I shouldn't have said it. Don't say it again."

"Bad Wilson." House giggled. He sat down on the kitchen floor and looked up. "Ass."

"No Greg!" Wilson gave Cuddy an exasperated sigh. "Why can't he ever repeat anything nice? It has to be "no", "bad", "mine" and now apparently swear words."

"So don't say so many negative things in front of him. Go lay down. I'm going to make dinner." She looked down at House. "And if you say "ass" again I'll wash your mouth out with soap..and Dr. Hadley can be your next babysitter."

"You can't do that to him!" Wilson protested. "He doesn't know any better!"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Will you go lay down? I am not going to stick any soap in anyone's mouth and I am certainly not going to leave anyone alone with Thirteen. Chase already informed me of her little performance over here tonight…I might stick some soap in her mouth." She turned on the stove. "Chase's call was the reason I stopped by tonight. He and Cameron were worried."

Wilson rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about all of this. I thought I could handle…."

"Just go lay down please." She pushed Wilson to the living room entry. "Before you pass out again." She shoved House's stuffed animals onto the carpet and covered Wilson with a blanket. "You two are going to be the death of me."

"Mine!" House emerged from the kitchen pointing to the displaced stuffed toys.

"So put them away." Cuddy reasoned. To Wilson's surprise House gathered up a good deal of the stuffed toys in his arms and headed towards his room with a frown. "You let him get away with too much."

"What I am supposed to do? Punish him? He's a grown man."

"With the mind of a four year old. And I'm not saying punish, I'm saying point him in the right direction. Give him some small jobs around the house that he can handle. He isn't completely helpless."

"Threatening to shove soap in someone's mouth is your idea of pointing someone in the right direction?" Wilson rubbed his forehead as Cuddy tucked a pillow under his head. "He can't even dress himself."

"I'm going to be using a kick in the rear to put you in the right direction pretty soon. Relax, I'm not saying make him mow the lawn. Have him help pick up a few toys or wipe up a spill. Little things." Cuddy started towards the kitchen, then stopped and turned. "And the next time you feel sick, call someone to come and help you. Despite what you think you are not the only person that cares about Greg."

Wilson lay on the couch, his head pounding. He had been expecting much worse. After all he had left Greg to run wild in the house and it was only sheer luck that kept the older man from hurting himself. He hoped Cuddy hadn't gone near his car. If she discovered the handle of Crown Royal he would be royally screwed.

"Nom?" House wandered into the kitchen checking out the boiling pot of water on the stove.

"Don't touch." Cuddy said firmly. She was still a little unnerved by House's presence but was starting to adjust. As long as she thought of him as cute patient and not his former self things seemed to go okay. "I'm making Chicken Alfredo with Fettuccini. Do you like that?"

"You'll never get him to eat that." Wilson's voice came from the living room.

"You should be resting." Cuddy called back. She looked at House. "Do you like chicken?"

House wrinkled up his nose. "No peas." He sat down at the kitchen table.

"There are no peas in this recipe." Cuddy started to set the table. House looked down with disdain at the plate set in front of him. "What?"

Wilson came back into the kitchen. "First of all, he has gotten really picky. House would eat anything even if he did complain about the taste the entire time…now he just won't eat it. Second, you are inviting disaster giving him that glassware. Here." Wilson walked over to a cupboard and retrieved a plastic dish set. "Do you want your monster truck dishes?"

"Please." House smiled at Wilson. Wilson switched out the plates and affectionately ruffled House's hair.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "You are spoiling him."

"At least he'll let me." Wilson pointed out. "Before if I tried to do anything nice for Greg he would either shove it in my face or toss it off of the balcony."

"Is that where all of those pies kept coming from? I was sure that had something to do with Kutner. James, I can't believe you feel guilty about House not letting you do anything nice for him. You are into self torture aren't you?"

"I don't…" Wilson began to protest.

"Go lay back down. We are fine in here. Right Greg?"

"Bad!" House pointed at Wilson. Cuddy snickered.

"Just heat up a few hotdogs and cut them up on a plate…." Cuddy shoved Wilson back into the living room.

"We are fine." She insisted.

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"Wow, you weren't kidding about picky." Cuddy wiped the rest of the Alfredo sauce from the kitchen table. "Are you sure you aren't hungry?"

"I'll eat later." Wilson assured. "I really am feeling better. I think I just needed some sleep."

"I can see why. He is no less of a holy terror than before is he?"

Wilson shook his head and smiled. "He is just showing off because you are here. He usually isn't this bad. At least throwing his dinner across the table is new. And he isn't used to someone hauling him away from the table like that either. I told you he wouldn't eat it."

"I didn't yell at him, I didn't hit him. I just told him to come back when he had calmed down. I have to do the same thing to my employees all of the time."

"You drag them away from the dinner table kicking and screaming?"

"No. I kick them out of my office kicking and screaming. If I gave into every tantrum one of you doctors threw there wouldn't be any money left in the budget! Sometimes I think doctors are just a bunch of well trained, over sized toddlers. Especially the male ones." She gave a meaningful look to Wilson.

"You always gave into House." Wilson said softly.

Cuddy got up from the table. "Not as bad as you do. I've got to go. I'll try to stop by on my way home from work tomorrow. Please eat something."

Wilson walked Cuddy out to her car. "Thanks Lisa." He gave her a quick hug. As soon as her headlights disappeared down the road he popped the trunk and grabbed the bottle of Crown Royal. He went inside and poured himself a glass. He really was feeling better now. He put some of the chicken on a plate and took a small bite. "Choosing between eating and becoming an alcoholic…James you are a mess."


	17. Chapter 17

author's note: Happy birthday to lhoma320- as requested a scene involving our favorite oncologist being treated/examined by Cuddy =) Hopefully it came out okay! The author will happly take ideas/requests for this story...make make sure the givers of these ideas get credit for the inspiration but makes no guarantee that ideas/requests will all be used (have to stick to the plot you...having Wilson and House suddenly in space or fighting dinosaurs would make much sense or help along the plot, lol...though I am sure that my version of House would be thrilled!) Anyhow, disclaimer goes here and on with the story! Hope you all enjoy =)

Wilson woke to the ringing of his cell phone. He rubbed his forehead and looked down at the partly empty handle of Crown Royal. Maybe he had drunk a little more than a few glasses and had been a little more than just relaxed last night. The phone rang again. "Hello?"

"Dr. Wilson! Just reminding you that you are scheduled to speak to the New Jersey Board of Oncology tonight. We are really looking forward to hearing your presentation and hadn't heard from you in awhile. How are things at Princeton Plainsboro?"

Wilson's heart began to race. He had completely forgotten about the presentation he had been booked for over six months ago. He grabbed the handle of Crown Royal off of the coffee table and took a quick swig. "Umm…of course. Tonight …tonight…" Wilson's mind starting racing along with his heart. He was pretty sure that his notes for the presentation were still in his office back at the hospital.

"See you at eight o'clock sharp then? And remember, black tie."

"Sure. Yes. See you." Wilson quickly hung up the phone. "Greg?"

House emerged from the hallway rubbing his eyes. His pajamas were rumbled and his hair was a mess. "You." House grouched, flopping down on the couch.

"Come on buddy, we have to get moving. I have something I have to do today that I completely forgot about." Wilson could hear House's former self taunting _shouldn't have scheduled so far in advance. _He shook his head and looked down at the House that sat frowning in front of him.

"No!" House whined as Wilson started to run the water for his bath.

"Come on Greg. I really need you to cooperate with me just this once okay?" House made a face and climbed in the tub. As Wilson leaned over to grab the shampoo House splashed him in the face with the lukewarm bathwater. "Fine. Forget about your hair. We need to get moving."

"No!" House firmly held on to the side of the tub. Wilson sighed and held up a towel.

"We need to make this quick." Wilson explained as he stuffed his struggling friend into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "I have no idea who I'm going to get to watch you…"

"Me?" House asked as he kicked off his shoe. The shoe went flying across the room and almost knocked over a lamp. As Wilson scrambled to retrieve it House began to peel off his socks.

"Come on Greg. We really don't have time for this today. We need to get going." As Wilson grabbed House's backpack he paused and looked down. The younger doctor sighed as he realized he was still in his pajamas.

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"So can you watch him?" Wilson stood fidgeting in Cuddy's office.

Cuddy sighed. "You had six months to plan this and you are asking me now? I'm sorry James. I have a board meeting after work and then I have got to spend some time with Rachel. Have you asked Cameron?"

"She and Chase are both on-call tonight." House pulled a book off of Cuddy's shelf. Wilson quickly snatched it from him. "No. Don't touch things." House stuck out his tongue and pulled out another book as soon as Wilson's back was turned.

"You could bring him with you." Cuddy gave House a stern gaze. "Greg, put down the book. Now." House quickly dropped the book to the floor and hid behind Wilson.

"I can't bring him! The thing is over two hours long with a formal dinner afterward. Somehow I don't think they will be serving macaroni and hotdogs." Wilson ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know what to do."

"I'll watch him." Foreman strode causally into the office. "I don't have anything going on tonight."

"Yeah right." Cuddy snorted. "I'm sure your girlfriend would just love that."

Foreman glared up at Cuddy. "Remy is not in charge of what goes on in our home. I mean it. I'll take him. It's just for a few hours right?" He looked over at Wilson.

"Well more than a few hours. I need some time to prepare my speech and…."

"I get off at six. All of my current patients are stable. You can drop him off at my place around six thirty. We'll have fun, right Greg?"

House buried his face in Wilson's shoulder. "No."

"He doesn't mean that." Wilson said quickly. "I'm sure you two will be fine. Thanks Foreman."

"No problem. See you at six thirty."

"No!" House whined.

Cuddy raised an eyebrow at Wilson. "Are you sure about this?"

"I really don't have any other choice." Wilson took Greg by the hand and led him out of Cuddy's office.

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"So you have my cell phone number? And all of his stuff is in his backpack. His…"

"Relax Wilson. Everything is going to be fine. If I need anything, I'll call you okay?" Wilson tried to tell himself that he was being overly anxious but couldn't help noticing Thirteen sulking in a corner.

"You're sure….?"

"You are going to be late. Like I said it is fine. Glad to have him here."

"Okay. Greg, come give me a hug." House got up from where he had been sitting entranced in a Disney movie and threw his arms around Wilson. "See you later buddy. Be good okay?"

"No! You!" House grabbed onto Wilson's pant leg. Bracing himself for a repeat of the scene at Cuddy's Wilson slowly moved towards the door. House grasped tighter to his pant leg. "NO!"

"Hey Greg." Foreman held up an Xbox controller. "You want to play games? I rented some new ones for you."

House looked up at Foreman and let go of Wilson's pants. "Me?" His blue eyes grew wide.

"Thanks." Wilson mouthed to Foreman as he slipped out the front door. Foreman shook his head as House quietly wandered back to the living room.

"Great. Now we are stuck with him all night." Remy sniped. "We are getting paid for this right?"

"I did this as a favor to Dr. Wilson…"

"Because you and Dr. Wilson are such good pals? Did you ever even talk to him before all of this? You never have the night off and now we are wasting it watching some brain dead moron who used to be our boss! You didn't even ask me…!"

"I shouldn't have to ask you! You do things all the time without asking me! You didn't ask if you could bring home that damn cat!" Foreman motioned angrily to a large white Persian sleeping on an overstuffed pillow. "You never ask me when you go out all night with your friends!"

"You said you weren't angry about the stupid cat! But if you hate him that much I'll just take him back to the pound and when he gets put down I'll be sure he knows…."

"Remy?" Foreman paused and glanced around the living room.

"What?"

"Where's House?"

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Wilson sat at the table adjusting his tie. He went over the notes in his hand for the hundredth time. "You know this stuff. You run the department." Wilson repeated to himself quietly. Just as a round of clapping signaled the end of opening speaker's presentation his cell phone went off. "Hello? What? No! Oh god!"

Every eye in the room turned to Wilson. "Is there a problem Dr. Wilson?" The man on the stage said into the microphone.

Wilson stood up and pointed at his cell phone. "I am very sorry. I have to leave."

"Dr. Wilson?" A man at his table whispered loudly.

"I'm sorry. It's an emergency." Wilson answered back so the whole room could hear. He grabbed his jacket and rushed out the double doors.

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Wilson could see the lights of the squad cars as he approached Foreman's home. He quickly rushed out of the car and ran up the driveway. "Foreman?"

"I am so sorry." Foreman looked as panicked as Wilson felt. "He was in the living room and then he was just gone. I didn't even hear the back door open." Foreman tried to put an arm around Wilson but he took a step back.

"He probably just wandered off. We'll find him. We get these cases all the time…people with dementia wander off." The short police officer approached the pair. "Are you Dr. Wilson?"

"Yes." Wilson felt his eyes begin to fill with tears. "I am Greg's caretaker. I was at a…"

"We are going to need you to fill out a description. You're lucky…we usually want the family to wait twenty four hours in these cases but because of your friend's mental status we are rushing things a bit…treating it like a missing child."

"Thank you officer." Wilson managed to sniff. He wanted to yell at the man and tell him that if he were lucky Greg wouldn't have gone missing in the first place but held his tongue. He took a clipboard from the officer and started to scribble down everything he could recall about what Greg had been wearing that night.

"Go home." The officer instructed s he took back the clipboard. "Change out of that outfit you got on and calm down. We'll find him and we will call you when we do. Standing around and panicking never helps anything."

"What if he…?" Wilson almost couldn't believe this was happening. He wanted to run out into the woods behind Foreman's backyard and yell for Greg until he found him.

"You can stay here." Foreman said quickly.

Wilson shook his head. As much as he didn't want to leave the last place Greg was seen he also didn't want to be anywhere near the people responsible for losing him either. He could see Thirteen standing there scowling on the front porch. "I am going to go home and call Cuddy. She needs to know about this…maybe we can come back with Chase and Cameron in the morning. If they haven't found him already." Wilson looked up at the clear star filled sky. It was cold out. Greg wasn't wearing a jacket. "I'll call you."

"They'll find him." Foreman tried to reassure.

Wilson jumped back in the car without saying anything and sped home.

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"God damn-it!" Wilson smashed the handle of Crown Royal against the side of the coffee table. Tears began to pour down his face. "Damn-it! Why?" He didn't even notice when a chunk of the glass tore open his hand. Blood flowed down his wrist from the large laceration. "House. No."

Wilson picked up one of House's stuffed animals off of the couch. The little stuffed rabbit seemed to smile back at him. He threw the toy across the room and wiped his face with his bloody hand. "This is all my fault! I still blamed you! It's not your fault…now you're gone! It's not fair!" Wilson started sobbing hysterically and collapsed onto the living room carpet. Blood from his hand began to pool on the rug, blending in with the juice stains from the other night.

"Wilson?" Cuddy's voice came from the hallway. "Oh god!" She bent over and picked up his bleeding hand. "What happened?"

"They lost him." Wilson bawled. "I left him and they lost him."

"Your hand!" Cuddy looked down at the broke Crown Royal bottle. "It's okay Wilson. They are going to find him."

Wilson stood up. "It is not okay. They find him and you aren't going to let me have him back!" He kicked the pieces of broken bottle. "He's gone either way."

"No." Cuddy said in a soothing voice, suppressing her own panic to comfort Wilson. "No. I'm not mad. No one is going to take him." She moved closer to Wilson and took his wrist. "Let's get this cleaned up okay."

Wilson took a shaky breath and followed Cuddy into the kitchen. "I was drinking and you said…"

"You were upset because you lost him. Relax. Take a deep breath." Cuddy took a deep breath herself. On the inside she was just as upset as Wilson. "This needs to be cleaned out."

Wilson flinched as Cuddy ran his hand under the sink. "Ouch! That hurts." He tried to pull his hand away as Cuddy dried it with a dishcloth.

"Do you have a first aid kit?"

"Under the sink." Wilson's voice trembled. He wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Easy." Cuddy soothed as she dabbed Wilson's wound with an antibiotic pad. "How bad does it hurt?"

Wilson shrugged and wiped his nose again. "I don't care."

"Here." Cuddy pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped Wilson's nose. "Don't use your sleeve. Keep your hand still so I can wrap it properly." Wilson flinched as the sterile gauze touched the wound. "Is that too tight?"

Wilson shook his head and followed Cuddy into the living room. As he sat on the couch he felt Cuddy sit down next to him. He bent over and picked up another one of House's stuffed toys off of the floor. "I can't believe I lost him." He said bewilderedly. "I should be out there looking."

"The officers will find him." Cuddy ran her hand gently over Wilson's hair. "Foreman said they have a whole bunch of them out there right now. They even have a police dog. This wasn't your fault."

"He trusts me. I let him down." Wilson looked down at the stuffed toy in his hand. "I don't know what to do." He started crying again.

"Shh." Cuddy put an arm around her coworker. "It's okay. They are going to find him. How's your hand?"

"Hurts." Wilson sobbed into Cuddy's shoulder. "It all hurts."

"It is going to be okay." Cuddy held the sobbing man until he finally cried himself to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

And one more chapter for today =) Disclaimer and enjoy....

The phone finally rang at two AM. Wilson quickly woke to find Cuddy had already answered it. "Okay. That's wonderful……. You have no idea. We'll see you soon." Cuddy hung up the phone. "They found him."

"Is he okay? Is he hurt? Is he scared? Where did they take him?" Wilson jumped off of the couch.

"He is at Princeton General's E.R. He's shaken but okay. Do you want me….?"

Wilson was out the door before Cuddy could finish. He ran two red lights as he sped his way to the hospital. Parking in a no parking zone, he jumped out of the car and ran to the front counter. "I am here to pick up Dr. Gregory House." He said breathlessly.

"Greg House?" The nurse asked politely. Wilson nodded. "He is in the ER waiting for you. Poor thing, he was scared to death when they brought him in. Are you Wilson?" Wilson nodded again. "He's been asking for you." The nurse smiled.

Wilson rushed through the unfamiliar hospital following the signs to the ER. He immediately spotted House sitting in a chair kicking his feet as though nothing usual had happened. "Greg!" Wilson rushed over and threw his arms around his friend. He quickly let go and studied House's face closely. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! Do you hear me? Oh god. I was so worried!"

"Mine!" House said brightly, holding up a lollypop one of the nurses had given him.

"We found him a few blocks over at a playground. He had fallen asleep in a playhouse. The dog sniffed him out." An older looking officer came up behind him. "The docs already checked him out. He was a little cold but some hot chocolate fixed that, huh buddy?" The officer smiled at House.

"No." House smiled. The officer shook his head.

"Glad we found him. Take care. Bye now." House waved at the officer.

"Wilson." House wrapped his arms around his friend. "You me?"

"Why did you wander off like that Greg? You nearly scared me to death!"

House let go of Wilson and took his injured hand in his own. "Ouch?" He looked up questioningly.

"Believe me pal, losing you was way more of an ouch than I could handle. Please don't ever do that to me again." He picked a leaf form Greg's hair. "You're a mess."

"Dr. Wilson?" Wilson turned around to face a thin young woman with a high nasal voice. "I'm Gertrude Stikes from Adult Services. We are investigating the case of your friend here."

"Investigating? Why?" Wilson looked confused.

"We got a call from the police that your friend was allowed to wander off and we need to make sure that no neglect was involved. I am afraid we are going to have to ask you to leave so we can talk to your friend here."

"What? No…wait." Wilson stood staring at the women in shock. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm a doctor!"

"If you don't leave know I'm afraid I'll have to have security escort you out."

"What? No. Greg?" Wilson gave House a quick hug. "I'll be right back buddy."

"Please come with us sweetie." The lady took House by the arm.

"Wilson? Wilson? No! You me?" House began to panic as Wilson walked away.

"I'll be right back buddy!" Wilson called over his shoulder as he jogged down the hall to the main counter. He was still in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Dr. Wilson." The nurse at the counter said quietly. "I am so sorry about this. I am going to have to ask you to leave. Social services will be contacting you within twenty four hours. Until then we are going to have to keep you off of hospital grounds. I swear this hospital had nothing to do with this."

Wilson felt his eyes tear up again. "Is there anything…?"

The nurse shook her head. "I am so sorry Dr. Wilson. I am going to have to request you keep friends and family away until they have finished the investigation. Don't worry….I'm sure everything will be fine. You treated my sister's son last summer. I know what a kind, caring doctor you are."

Wilson left the hospital stunned. He felt like a zombie as he drove home. He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Lisa?" He looked down and saw the note on the coffee table.

_James-_

_Got called into the hospital. Major disaster in one of the O.R.s. Tell Greg that I send hugs and am so glad he is home. Also tell him that I am going to whip his butt if he ever scares us like that ever again. Please take it easy and be careful with that hand. I will be by later._

_~Lisa_

Wilson crumpled up the note and threw it to the floor. He went to the fridge and found House's bottle of Vicodin suspension. Downing half the bottle, Wilson sat down on the couch. He wished he hadn't of smashed that bottle of Crown Royal. He got up, turned off his cell phone and locked the front door. Crawling into House's bed he wrapped his arms around a teddy bear and sobbed himself to sleep.

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Wilson woke periodically to the sound of someone beating on his front door. He tried to ignore it, wrapping his arms tighter around the bear and curling into a ball. Finally the knocking stopped. A few minutes later he heard the back door open. "James?"

"Go away." Wilson called back.

"James." Cuddy rushed into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "This is all a mistake. You are going to get him back. I talked to the woman from Adult Services and…."

"Told her what a drunken unfit guardian I am?" Wilson rolled over onto his stomach and looked up. "How worthless…"

"Knock this crap off! Now! Is this how you talk to Greg when he makes a mistake? Do you tell him he's worthless?" To Wilson's surprise Cuddy gave him a hard slap across the ass. "Get up and stop wallowing in self pity. How is that going to help anything?"

"Ow!" Wilson sniffled, reaching back to rub his stinging backside.

"You deserved it." Cuddy looked down at him sharply. Her voice softened. "How is your hand?"

Wilson sniffed and cleared his throat. "Fine. I think. I took some painkillers."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "I saw the bottle of Vicodin on the counter. Apparently House was just distracting me from your bad behavior all of these years. Let me see the hand." Wilson held up his bandaged palm. "You got snot all over the wrapping. Come on."

Wilson numbly followed Cuddy into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Hey that hurts!" He pulled back his hand.

"I didn't think you'd feel anything after all of that Vicodin." She retorted. "Stay still. I'm going to make you some dinner after this. You are going to take a shower and then I am going to give you a mild sedative so you will be rested when you pick up Greg from tomorrow."

"I'm a grown man! I don't need you…." Cuddy gave Wilson a sharp look and he shut his mouth. "How do you know he will be coming home?"

"I just do." She said simply. "Now quit arguing with me and let someone take care of you for once. I don't feel like cooking. Let's order pizza. Go take a shower while I'm ordering. Don't get your hand wet."

Wilson nodded. He showered quickly and returned to find that Cuddy had a blanket and pillow laid out for him on the couch. Wilson blushed as he sat down and let Cuddy pull the blanket over him. "You don't need to…"

"Shut up." She ordered gently. "Relax. It isn't going to kill you to let someone else take over for one night."

Wilson opened his mouth to argue but couldn't find the energy. He let his head fall back against the pillow and started to wonder if Greg was okay.

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"Dr Wilson? They are ready for you."

Wilson stood up nervously and straightened the tie Cuddy had picked out for him that morning. She had driven him to the Social Services building and was waiting out in the car. "Um…thanks." Wilson followed the young man into a small room where the lady who had taken House from him at the hospital sat with several other people around a small table.

"Have a seat ." A kindly looking older gentleman said softly.

Wilson nervously sat down. He looked around the room. He had expected House to be there but he wasn't anywhere in sight. "Thank you."

"Dr. Wilson, after what amounted to be a very short investigation we wanted to let you know that we wish we had more guardians of your caliber. Speaking to your boss, Dr. Cuddy and to your coworkers it is very obvious how deeply you care for Dr. House and from what little Dr. House is able to communicate; it is very clear how deeply he cares about you. Looking at your records it appears you are attending counseling."

Wilson gulped. "Yes…um…"

"Dealing with this must be very difficult. We are glad to see you have the common sense to seek help when you need it. You can go pick up your friend now. He is being housed at Princeton General."

Wilson looked around in shock. "That's it?"

"Come again?"

Wilson shook his head. "Oh nothing. Thank you for your time."

He walked back out to the car, not sure what to think of the events that just took place.

"Well?" Cuddy asked impatiently. "Ready to pick up Greg?"

"He's at Princeton General. How did you know?"

"I just did." Cuddy smiled softly at Wilson as she stepped on the gas.

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"Greg?" Wilson quietly approached his friend who sat looking half asleep in a wheelchair. A small line of drool ran down his face. "Is he okay?"

"I'm sorry Dr. Wilson. He wouldn't stop screaming. We were afraid he would hurt himself and were forced to sedate him. It should wear off in four to five hours."

"Four to five?" Wilson looked at the nurse in surprise.

"If it doesn't wear off by then be sure to give us a call. Do you need help getting him out to your car?"

"No. I had a friend drive me. I think we can handle it. You ready Greg?" House looked up at him with clouded blue eyes. "Come on buddy."

The ride home was completely silent. Both Wilson and Cuddy were too wiped out from the past couple day's events to want to say anything. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" Cuddy fussed as she dropped Wilson and House off at the door.

"Rachel needs her mom." Wilson said letting out a small yawn. "Why don't you bring her over tomorrow? We could have dinner."

"Be careful with that hand." Cuddy warned. "If you let it get infected…."

"I know." Wilson gave his boss a quick hug. He looked down and saw House's backpack and teddy bear sitting on the front porch. "I should call Foreman. Come on Greg."

He carefully pushed the half conscious man to bed. House blinked a few times as Wilson helped him out of the wheel chair and sat him on the bed. "Wilson." He said softly as his friend changed him into his pajamas. "You me?"

Wilson ruffled House's hair. "You me pal. I don't want to ever repeat the past few days though. You are a pain in the ass, you know that? You are going to be the death of me."

"Nom?" House's eyes began to flutter shut. Wilson gently pulled the covers over him.

"Rest up okay?" Wilson started to walk away but felt a hand tugging at his back pocket.

"No." House said sleepily. He barely opened his eyes and looked up at Wilson.

"Okay buddy." Wilson sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm not going anywhere."


	19. Chapter 19

*warning* this chapter might make you blush a bit towards the end (well at least it made poor Wilson blush) =P Disclaimer as usual and hope you enjoy =)

"I need you to sit up for me buddy. Come on." Wilson encouraged. House looked up him with big blue eyes but didn't budge. "Come on Greg, we have a lot of stuff we have to do today. Dr. Cuddy is coming over for dinner tonight. Isn't that going to be fun?"

"Mnnn!" House rolled over and buried his face in his pillow.

Wilson stood up from where he had been seated at the edge of the bed. "Fine. I'll let you sleep a little be longer. I know the past couple days have been really rough on you." _Rough on me too_ Wilson thought to himself as he ran an affectionate hand over House's shoulder. "But you need to get up soon. It's almost noon. Aren't you hungry?"

"No nom." House mumbled into his pillow. Wilson gave up and shut the bedroom door behind him.

The place was a disaster area. Nothing had been touched since the day House had gone missing. Dishes were piled in the sink, the stains remained on the rug, and House's toys were everywhere. Wilson had attempted to clean the place the day before but a crabby, clingy House had prevented him from doing so. Anytime Wilson would reach for a dish or the vacuum cleaner House would grab onto Wilson's arm or sit on the floor and stubbornly blocking Wilson's path. Wilson chalked up this new behavior to stress from the past few days events.

As Wilson started to pull the vacuum cleaner out of the closet he heard House whining loudly in his bedroom. "What's the matter? Do you have a new radar that goes off every time I start to pick up around here? Trying to save the world one dust mite at a time?"

"Mnnn!" House whined loudly and grabbed onto Wilson's arm.

"Greg, I don't know what "Mnnn" means. Please either try to tell me what the matter is or let go of my arm. I have stuff to do." Wilson was trying for the firm voice that was so effective coming from Cuddy but failed miserably as House looked up at him with huge puppy dog eyes. He sat down on the end of the bed. "What's the matter buddy?"

"Mnn!" He picked up his teddy bear and swung it at Wilson.

Wilson tried to remain patient. "I can't help you if you won't tell me what's going on. I have stuff I need to get done. Are you hungry? Do you not feel well?"House frowned and made another grab for Wilson's arm. Wilson quickly pulled his arm away. "If you are going to be stubborn you can just sit in your bed all day."

"No!" House frantically grabbed for Wilson's back pocket as his friend stood up to leave. Clearly frustrated the older man finally threw his teddy bear on the floor. "Ouch."

Wilson turned around. "What hurts buddy?" House pointed to his stomach. Wilson sighed. "You're probably just hungry. Do you have to go to the bathroom? You've been in bed all day."

Wilson surveyed the mess in the bathroom as House slowly and grouchily followed behind him. There were dirty towels and clothes all over the floor. Not a single load of laundry had been done since the night Cuddy had washed House's bedding. House stood there fidgeting as Wilson lowered his pajama bottoms. "No wonder you're grumpy. You wet your pants. Why didn't you tell me you had to….?"

"Ouch!" House interjected as Wilson tried to remove his wet disposable underpants.

Wilson was starting to run out of patients. "How can that possibly….oh crap." He led House, wet underpants and all, out into the living room and picked up the phone. "Foreman? You don't happen to have a bottle of antibiotic suspension in your fridge do you?...........Crap. Can you do me a huge favor?"

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"I know it seems like I'm pulling a House here, treating without testing, but it's pretty obvious what happened here. Not finishing antibiotics for a UTI is a surefire way to get a much nastier infection. " Wilson stood holding House's hand as Chase hooked his former boss up to a bag of IV antibiotics. "There we go. I'm going to put a dose of pain meds in there too."

"Thanks for coming over on such short notice. I know you don't usually do house calls. I feel like such an idiot. I'm a doctor, how could I forget his meds?"

"It's no problem. Foreman feels like crap about losing House and asked me to do him a favor. And this is better than being stuck in the clinic."

"Cuddy has you on clinic duty?" Wilson raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You know that mess in the O.R. Cuddy had to deal with the day Adult Services took Greg?"

"Yeah." Wilson looked down at House. "Easy there buddy. You don't want to pull that out." He moved House's hand away from where the IV entered his arm.

"That mess in the O.R. was my fault." Chase adjusted the flow on the IV "There. That's better. These meds are much stronger than the ones from last time. They might upset his stomach."

"Well I still can't thank you enough for doing this. I was afraid if I took him into the hospital one more time people were going to think I'm abusing him."

"He has been sick a lot, hasn't he? Maybe he's allergic to whining." Chase raised an eyebrow back at Wilson.

Wilson blushed a little. "Well…it has been…"

"Yesterday Cuddy called you worse than House and a sniveling headache in the same sentence. No offense Dr. Wilson but you are starting to make the old House look delightful. Are you still going to those counseling meetings?"

"I have one tomorrow. How did you….?"

"Cameron. I don't want to be rude but…"Chase paused. "Well just remember that feeling sorry for yourself doesn't fix anything."

Wilson uncomfortably cleared his throat. "So…."

"I'm going to leave you with a new bottle of the stronger antibiotics." Chase said, suddenly becoming very clinical. "Try to get him to drink as much liquid as possible. I'm going to leave you with some pain medicine as well but with him already being on the Vicodin I would use it as little as possible. By the way, how's your hand? Cameron mentioned something about you slicing it open."

"My hand?" Wilson looked down at the grubby bandage covering his palm. He had completely forgotten about it. "It's fine." He lied. "Healing quickly."

"Want me to take a look? I might as well while I'm here."

"I'm a doctor too you know." Wilson replied, pretending to be defensive. The last thing he needed was a lecture from Chase because he let his hand get infected. He would deal with it later.

"Well, doctor, I need to get back to the hospital before Cuddy notices I'm missing. Cameron will probably be stopping by later on in the week. She's been stuck at work and has really wanted to visit Greg. She has a whole toy store stacked up in our living room just waiting for him."

"Ouch!" House complained as Chase removed the IV and quickly covered the wound it left behind with a band-aid.

"Sorry." Chase gave House an apologetic smile. "See you later Dr. Wilson. Feel better Greg."

"Thanks again Chase." Wilson walked the other doctor to the front door. As the door closed he looked around the living room again. The place was a mess.

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"Sorry the place is such a mess." Wilson smiled sheepishly as Cuddy hauled Rachel's stroller though the door. "I tried to pick up the place but well…Greg. And apparently offering to pay double is not enough incentive to get a carpet company to come clean with only two hours notice."

"It's fine." Cuddy pulled a portable crib through the doorway. "How's Greg?"

"Napping. I was planning on waking him up when you got here. Do you need help with that?" Rachel started fussing in her stroller.

"Can you pick her up? She hates the car and the stroller. She cried all the way here. I get the only baby in the world that doesn't fall asleep in the damn car." Cuddy shoved the portable crib into the living room and quickly set it up. "Here, just lay her down in there."

Wilson gently laid the now quiet baby girl down in the crib. "She's getting so big."

"Yup. Crap. I left her diaper bag in the car. Be right back." Cuddy quickly rushed out to the car and returned with a pink bag that's zipper appeared to be threatening to burst. She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. "So, how's the hand?"

"Fine." Wilson lied. He quickly changed the subject. "Do you want me to go wake up Greg?"

"Let him sleep a little longer. Let me look at your hand." Wilson reluctantly held out the bandaged palm. "Have you even changed the bandages? Look at that James, it's obviously becoming infected. Have you been cleaning it at all?"

Wilson looked down at the floor, feeling very much a like a schoolboy who know he was about to be in for it. "Yes, it's just.."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Go get the first aid kit."

Wilson hung his head a little as he returned with the kit. Knowing he deserved it didn't make having Cuddy treat him like he was a naughty child any less humiliating. "I can do it myself." Wilson pointed out as Cuddy began to remove the rest of the dirty bandage from his hand.

"Just like you kept it from getting infected?" Cuddy began none to gently wiping the wound down with an antibiotic pad.

Wilson jerked his hand away. "That hurts. Just let me do it myself."

"James, stop acting like a child and stay still. I swear you are worse than House." She pulled his hand back and applied some antibiotic ointment. "There, almost done." She patted Wilson's hand as she finished wrapping it in a fresh bandage.

"Almost?" Wilson's expression was troubled.

"You are going to need a dose of penicillin." Cuddy pulled a bottle and a syringe from Rachel's diaper bag.

Wilson's eyes grew wide. "What kind of person carries around needles and drugs in their kid's diaper bag?"

"The kind of person who knows someone they care about isn't going to treat a wound properly despite the fact that the person with the wound happens to be a doctor." Cuddy drew some penicillin up in the syringe. She started heading towards the hallway.

Wilson followed her hesitantly and shot her a puzzled look as she finally stopped in front of his bed. "Okay?"

"Bend over and drop your pants." Cuddy's voice was all business. "You need a shot of penicillin to prevent further infection."

"Can't you just give it in the arm?" Wilson yelped. The very thought of his female boss seeing his bare ass made the oncologist's face turn beet red.

"Now." Cuddy almost sounded bored. Wilson's face turned an even brighter shade of red as he let his pants drop to the floor and braced himself against the side of the bed. "I forgot the gloves. Be right back."

"I could give myself the injection…." Wilson offered, his voice wavering a little. He had expected Cuddy to be angry with him for not treating his hand as he had promised, maybe yell at him a little. He certainly hadn't expected her to use humiliation to get back at him.

Wilson heard the familiar snap of someone pulling on rubber gloves. "Undies too." Wilson wished he could sink into the floor as he lowered his underwear just enough to expose the very top of his bottom. He bit his lower lip as a cold sterile wipe hit his skin. "Don't want that to get infected too." With that Cuddy quickly injected the needle into the sensitive skin. "All done." She carefully covered the injection site with a band-aid and gave Wilson a pat on the back.

A very red faced Wilson quickly pulled up his pants. "I should check on Greg." He quickly walked into House's room, trying to put some distance between himself and his boss. "Hey buddy, are you awake?"

"No." House whined as Wilson flipped on the lights. He pulled the blankets over his head.

"Lisa's here. Do want to say hi?" Wilson asked gently as he pulled back the blankets.

"No." House clutched onto his teddy bear.

Wilson couldn't help but chuckle. "If you don't throw your dinner across the table I bet she would be a lot nicer. Come on. You need to get up and have some juice."

"Nom." House replied grumpily. He slowly padded into the living room and slid onto the couch next to Wilson.

"Hi Greg." Cuddy smiled. "Do you remember Rachel?" She carefully held up the baby for Greg to see. House buried his face in Wilson's shoulder.

"He's grumpy." Wilson explained. "Do you want some juice Greg?" He picked a sports bottle off of the coffee table and handed to his friend. "So who's ready for dinner?"

"Do you even have any clean dishes?" Cuddy asked, gently placing Rachel back in the portable crib.

"Who's ready to order Chinese?"

Cuddy shook her head affectionately. "Next time we are having dinner over at my place."

author's note:* I know penicillin should techinally be kept cold in the frigde...but at the animal shelter vet clinic the vet said as long as the bottle stayed cold, it was all good. Good enough for me! * Also after rereading this I kind of get the feeling that Cuddy doesn't know about Wilson failing to remember Houses' antibotics. Chase must have "forgotten" to tell Cuddy about his visit to the House-Wilson residence....


	20. Chapter 20

**This chapter is just a shortish piece of fluff, lol. I have to go to animal foster care meeting later today and the thought of all of those puppies and kittens left me feeling..."fluffy" =D It also means the other less fluffy chapter I wrote won't be up till later tonight or tomorrow morning....hope you all enjoy this one for now! Standard disclaimer goes here.  
**

"Well I see you've cleaned up a little in here." Cuddy smiled as she came through the front door. "How's Greg? He seemed a little out of it last night. Is he feeling any better? I was hoping I could take him to the mall to get new pair of new sneakers."

Wilson ran his fingers through his hair and frowned. "He still isn't feeling that great. I don't thinking taking him anywhere would be such a great idea."

House lay on the couch under a pile of blankets. His blue eyes were hazy and focused somewhere on the ceiling. "Mnnph."

"Is he okay?" Cuddy looked at Wilson in alarm. "Maybe I should take him to the clinic."

Wilson shook his head. "No, I already had Chase take a look at him. It is just going to take awhile for the antibiotics to kick in and clear out all of the infection. He's on pain meds. You just need to make sure that he gets plenty of fluids."

"When did you have him in the clinic?"

"Um." Wilson looked down at the floor. "I had Chase over here yesterday. I realized I had forgotten to give Greg to rest of his antibiotics and…." The brown eyed man let his voice trail off.

"And?" Cuddy asked impatiently. "Why didn't you tell me any of this last night?"

Wilson shrugged and looked down at the floor again. "I didn't want to you get upset."

Cuddy snorted. "And do what? Make you stand in the corner? James, I swear." She rolled her eyes. "You are one of the goofiest men I have ever known. Will you relax? I'm not going to beat you over the head every time you make a mistake. I'm guessing you forgot the antibiotics over at Foreman's?" Wilson nodded. "You were terrified they wouldn't find Greg. You were upset. People make mistakes."

Wilson pretended to look down at his watch. "Looks like I'm going to be late. Better run. I left you some notes on the kitchen counter." He walked over to the couch and bent down. "Bye. Be good."

House moved his gaze over to Wilson and put up his arms for a hug. "No." Wilson gave his friend a quick hug.

"See ya later." He hurried out the front door, even though he was nowhere near being late for his counseling meeting. He really just wanted to escape from Cuddy before she launched into a lecture.

"So just me and you huh?" Cuddy sat at the end of the couch near Greg's feet. "Do you want to watch TV?"

House rolled over and faced the back of the couch. "Mnn."

"How about some juice? Wilson said you are supposed to be drinking lots of fluids. Do you want some Gatorade?" House rolled over to face his former boss again. He looked feverish and made no attempt to grab the sports bottle she had held out to him. Cuddy put a hand on his forehead. "Sweetie you are burning up. Will you please take a little sip of juice?"

"No." House whined. He half heartily waved his hand at the sports bottle. "Bed."

"You really need to drink something. It will help wash the bad stuff out of your system. How about some 7Up?" Cuddy held up a bottle of soda pop that had been sitting on the coffee table. She looked at Greg hopefully.

"Nom." He agreed lethargically. He made a grab for the soda bottle but it fell from his hands.

"It's okay." Cuddy soothed as Greg started to sniffle. "Here." She removed the cap from the bottle and held it up to Greg's lips. "Just little sips okay?"

House took a small sip and turned his head, letting the soda pour down the front of his t-shirt. "MMnn."

"Oh honey. It's okay." Cuddy grabbed a towel that had been conveniently sitting on the back on the couch and began to mop up the spill. "I'm going to call Dr. Chase okay?"

"Chase?" Greg tried to sit up and looked around in confusion.

"Just lay back." She put a comforting hand on House's shoulder and watched him instantly relax as she began to rub his shoulder. "That's it." Greg's eyes began to flutter shut as Cuddy reached for her cell phone with her free hand. "Hello? Is Dr. Chase available?"

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"Sorry you just got me." Cameron smiled sheepishly. "Chase is really sorry he couldn't come. But he did send notes on everything he did when he was here yesterday."

"Thanks Cameron. I am going to strangle Wilson."

Cameron laughed. "If you do that who is going to take care of House? I think he was just trying to protect Chase. He took a page out of House's book and came over here when he was supposed to be in the clinic."

"That would be our Wilson. Always trying to protect someone." Cuddy shook her head. "I'm not mad. I just wish one of them would have given me the heads up about what was going on with House so I could have been more prepared. How's his temp?"

Cameron looked down at the thermometer she had just removed from the sleeping man's ear. "It is a little high but not terrible. Chase put him on some pretty strong stuff. It could be a part of why he is feeling so bad."

"Those antibiotics can really upset your stomach."Cuddy agreed. "Thanks for coming over."

"No problem. I'm leaving you a bag of fluids and an IV kit just in case. Hopefully you won't need them but if his fever gets any higher I'd give him some."

Cuddy nodded and walked Cameron to the door. "Thanks again Allison." She went back to the couch and gently shook House from his sleep. "Hey sweetie. You want to try some more 7Up? You slept right through Dr. Cameron's visit."

"Cammie?" House looked around the room.

"Sorry sweetie. She already left. Here, let's try some 7Up, okay?" House took a small sip from the bottle Cuddy held up to his lips. "More?"

"Mnn." House started to panic. He tugged frantically at Cuddy's sleeve.

"What is it Greg? Are you okay?" House looked into her eyes then vomited all over his lap.

Cuddy sighed as she pulled the vomit covered blankets off of the couch.

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"Dr. Wilson? Are you listening to me?"

Wilson sat fidgeting in his chair. He had in fact not been listening to a word the counselor had been saying. Instead he had been staring off into space and worrying about House. He reached down into his coat pocket and pulled out a small Pokémon toy House must have shoved in there when he was hugging Wilson goodbye. Wilson smiled at the sight of the toy.

"Dr Wilson?"

"Oh sorry. I was just thinking about something back at home."

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"Come Greg. Stay still for me okay?" Cuddy struggled to keep the IV fluid line in Greg's arm while holding up the IV bag with her other hand. "This isn't going to work." She stood up to get the bag flowing. "Just a little bit more okay?"

"No." Greg kept his arms still but kicked his feet. "No."

"Well I can tell someone is feeling a little better." Just then the phone rang. "Crap. Hang on a second sweetie." Cuddy turned the flow off on the IV bag and picked up her cell phone. "Hello? What….no I said I would be here till…..Are you sure?....Okay. I'll be there in a minute." She hung up the phone. "Damn-it! Greg, it looks like we will be going for a car ride."

"No me." Greg whined as Cuddy carefully removed the IV and covered the puncture it left behind with a band-aid. She rounded up a bunch of his stuff and shoved it in his backpack. "No me!" He fought Cuddy every step of the way to the car and waved his arms at her as she tried to buckle him into the back seat.

"I'm so sorry Greg. I know you don't feel good. Wilson will be back in a little bit and he will come take you home okay?" Cuddy pulled into the driveway. "Remember this place?"

"No." Greg stuck out his lower lip as Cuddy helped him out of the car. As they approached the front door a lady with dark brown hair came rushing up to them.

"Thanks Dr. Cuddy." The girl said breathlessly. "I'm sorry about the mix up. I have to pick up my little brother from school in fifteen minutes. Rachel is asleep in her playpen in the living room."

"See you later Cynthia." Cuddy led a groggy House into the living room and helped him onto the couch. "Hey little girl." She carefully lifted Rachel from her playpen. "Mommy is home."

House looked over at the baby with a look of sheer wonder on his face. As the baby moved he jumped a little and moved back against the arm of the couch. He studied the tiny creature with curiosity as Cuddy sat down in a rocking chair and began to rock the baby gently back and forth. "Me?" House asked tentatively.

"You want to see her?" Cuddy carried the baby over to the couch. "You have to be careful." House held up his arms. "I don't think so. Here." She sat down on the couch and cautiously positioned the baby in her lap. House reached out to touch the baby's face. "No Greg. Gentle."

"Gentle." House repeated slowly. He watched the baby closely for a second then started to cough a little.

"Okay, that's enough." Cuddy put Rachel back into her playpen. "I'm going to take your temperature again and if your fever is down we are going to try some more juice okay?"House sat watching the baby sleep as Cuddy took his temp. "It looks like the fluids helped. Do you want your sports bottle?"

House took a slow, uncertain sip from the bottle of juice. "Nom." He said when the juice stayed down. He looked over at Rachel again. "Nom?" he questioned, holding up the bottle.

"No sweetie. She doesn't want any of your juice. You finish it okay?"

House looked down at his backpack that was resting up against the side of the couch. He reached in and pulled out his favorite teddy bear. "Mine." He said slowly. He got up off the couch and made his way to Rachel's playpen, carefully placing the bear next to the sleeping baby. "Gentle." He whispered.

Cuddy felt tears pricking up in her eyes at the sight of the bitter sweet spectacle in front of her. She was struck by the innocence of the once very jaded man and was unsure whether to feel a sense of joy at the sweetness of House sharing his favorite bear with her child or a sense of loss in the fact the House she had known and loved before might be forever gone. "Come back to the couch sweetie." Cuddy finally said softly.

When Wilson walked into the living room he found everyone asleep. House was sprawled out on his back on the couch, one of Rachel's pink stuffed animals tuck under his arm. Cuddy napped in the rocking chair with House's teddy bear sitting on her lap while baby Rachel slept contently in her playpen. Wilson smiled at the tranquil scene and quietly took a seat in an overstuffed chair near the couch.


	21. Chapter 21

**As promised here we go...hope you enjoy =D I am really tired so hopefully spelling/grammar is still okay!**

"Why don't you stay for dinner?" Cuddy asked as she yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked over at House who was still snoozing on the couch. "It looks like it will just be the two of us."

"I don't know." Wilson said reluctantly. "Greg isn't feeling well and…"

"James, I had to clean up puke and give Greg IV fluids by myself. Please humor me? Greg is perfectly comfortable on the couch. At least you won't have to cook."

Wilson sighed. "Okay. Sure. Do you want help in the kitchen?"

"Wow, you really have issues about letting others take over don't you?" Cuddy grinned. "Can't even let someone else cook dinner. You just sit back in that chair and let me take care of everything."

"I don't have issues." Wilson argued. "I just……like to be helpful."

"Well, Mr. Helpful, you just sit back and relax. Keep an eye on House and Rachel." She motioned to the sleeping pair.

Wilson rolled his eyes and sat back down in the chair. He looked over at House who was sleeping so deeply that an earthquake probably wouldn't have woken him. Rachel lay sleeping just as deeply in her playpen. "Are you sure….?"

"I'm fine." Cuddy called back. Just then there was a quiet knock at the door. "Actually, do you want to get that?"

"Sure." Wilson opened the front door. A small black woman holding a clipboard stood on the front porch. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"I'm Sylvia Hines from Adult Services. Is Dr. Cuddy available?"

"Um..yeah. Yes. She is. Is there are problem?" Wilson asked nervously.

"I am guessing that you are Dr. Wilson?" Wilson nodded. "I'm sorry to bother you tonight Dr. Wilson but unfortunately we have to investigate every claim called into us. This will only take a minute and I will be out of your hair."

Wilson shook the confused expression off of his face. "Oh, well come in. I'll go get Dr. Cuddy." The perplexed man led the woman into the living room. "Lisa?"

Cuddy came into the living room holding a pot of soup. "Who…Sylvia! How are you? James, this is Sylvia Hines, my old college roommate. Sylvia, this is Dr. James Wilson, he works with me at Princeton Plainsboro. How are you?"

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call, Lisa. Someone called in another complaint about Dr. Greg House. The claim seemed bogus but we have to follow up just in case. I don't usually come out for these sorts of things but since I hadn't seen you in awhile I figured I'd come out and say hi. Is that him?"She pointed at Greg.

"Yes, that is Greg House." Cuddy answered quickly. "Dr. Wilson had a counseling meeting to attend so I was watching him for the day."

"And does Greg have any medical conditions that are or aren't being treated?"

"He is on antibiotics….I can fax you over the records." It was Cuddy's turn to look confused.

"That's all I need. Thank you both. I wish I could stay longer but I have work to do. It was nice seeing you Lisa."

"Take care Sylvia." Cuddy showed her to the door.

"That was odd." Wilson looked at Cuddy. "I wonder what that was all about?"

"I have a hunch. Do you mind bringing Greg to my office tomorrow morning?"

"No problem. So are we having soup for dinner?"

"Oh yeah, soup." Cuddy wandered back into the kitchen carrying the pot of soup, leaving Wilson to wonder about what her hunch was.

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"Dr. Hadley. So nice to see you." Cuddy gave Thirteen a phony smile. "Please, sit down." She motioned to the chairs in front of her desk.

"What is this about?" Thirteen asked. "And what are they doing here?" She pointed at Wilson and House who were seated on a couch in the corner.

"Never mind them." Cuddy said dismissively. "We are here to talk about you. Do you like working here?"

"Yes." Thirteen answered in a puzzled voice.

"And you know that pissing off the dean of the hospital is not a wise idea if you wish to continue you employment with this hospital?"

"What is this all about?" Thirteen demanded. "Are you threatening me?"

Cuddy stood up. "Listen missy, I know that you were the one who called Adult Services on Wilson. You better give a damn good reason why you did this or so help me god I will fire you so fast that it will make your head spin."

"You can't fire me over…"

"Try me. And don't try crying to the board of directors. Who do you think they are going to back, you or me? Especially with your record. And without a letter of recommendation from me, good luck trying to find a job somewhere else."

Wilson looked over a Cuddy in shock. His boss hadn't told him what her plan for this little meaning was but he certainly hadn't expected this. Of course he also hadn't expected Dr. Hadley to have been the one who had called Adult Services on him. He had hardly ever even spoken to her, even at work.

"Okay." Thirteen said coolly. "You want to know why I called? Fine. I think Wilson is a sick bastard who shouldn't be allowed to take care of House. Everyone feels so sorry for him but he likes House being likes this! He loves it!"

"What?!?" Wilson exploded causing House to jump back. "What could possibly make you think that?"

"I went up to the psych ward here to see House before you took him home. I talked to his doctor, as a colleague discussing a case, about House. He told me what you decided…that you weren't going to put House in any sort of treatment. You decided to leave him like…like" She spat the last part. "THIS" She motioned wildly at House who buried his face in Wilson's arm in fear. "Look at him! He is a pathetic mess!"

"Dr. Hadley, James and I have known Greg much longer than you have. I think we know what is best for…"

"You think THAT…" She pointed at House again. "Is best for him? Not even being able to tie his own shoes? Dress himself?"

Wilson took a deep breath. "Listen, Remy. House's doctor and I carefully went over all of our options. We decided that with the amount of damage to his brain it would be best to send him home and see how things progressed. If he showed any significant improvement in any area we would come back and reassess the situation."

Remy shook her head. "He wouldn't want this…he would want…"

"How would you know what he would want?" Cuddy snapped. "You hardly know him. He's your boss. You haven't even worked for him that long."

"Foreman told me about this patient House had, this guy who had brain damage but could play the piano really well. He…"

"Good god." Wilson interjected as he gave the now thoroughly frightened House a comforting pat on the back. "You are basing all of this on what House did for a patient? Did you ever pay any attention to him at all? If one of his patients broke a bone, House would want to set it…if he had broken a bone he would go home and wash down a few Vicodin with a bottle of bourbon. Just because he treats a patient one way does not mean that is how he would want to be treated!"

"You really think he enjoys being paraded around like your little lap dog? So everyone can see how cute he looks in his jammies and his diaper?"

"I think." Wilson answered as he lowered his voice for House's sake. "That you need to sit down and go over his charts. Do you really think that any amount of anything is going to bring him back? No. This is the best he has and believe me I am doing my best here. I care about him and if thought there was any chance that anything..."

"I think he rather be dead." Thirteen said simply. "I know I would."

"Ya think?" Wilson was furious. "You think I haven't thought about that a million times? Unfortunately he isn't a dog. I can't take him to the vet and…" House started to cry. "Oh buddy. I am so sorry. I'm not mad at you." Wilson turned his attention to House, gently rubbing his back.

"Dr. Hadley." Cuddy said as calmly as possible. "I can see that a lot of this has nothing to do with House and everything to do with your Huntington's. It is up to you and Foreman…"

"Foreman kicked me out." Remy said quietly. Wilson started to shoot her a look of sympathy but was quickly turned away by Cuddy's death glare.

"Your personal wishes are your own…" Cuddy continued. "As strongly as you may feel on this subject I trust Dr. Wilson's judgment as your former employer's long time friend over any short time employee's. And no matter how much you disagree with anyone in this hospital it is no reason to call Adult Services and make false accusations."

"Am I fired…?"

"Consider yourself on probation until further notice. You can leave now." Cuddy waved a hand at the now trembling Dr. Hadley. She took a deep breath as the young doctor left the room. "I'm sorry about all of that James."

"Maybe…" Wilson began as he continued to try to calm the very frightened Greg.

"Don't you dare go into self doubting mode on me now. I went over those records myself. You and House's doctors made the right call for House. I know you care about him, James. And even with all of your past mistakes I trust you to take care of him."

"Did you fire her?" Cameron came busting into the room, followed by Chase and Kutner.

"You guys knew?" Wilson eyeballed the trio.

"Chase helped Cuddy figure it out." Cameron explained. "He overheard her fighting with Foreman and…"

"We heard the rest from outside the door." Kutner interjected. Wilson shot him a dirty look. "What? We were waiting to ask Dr. Cuddy a question."

"Which was?" Wilson raised an eyebrow.

Chase grinned. "If she had fired Dr. Hadley or not." Wilson couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Well, did you?" Cameron pressed.

Cuddy shook her head. "I put her on probation. I am going to let Foreman have the final say. He is here boss."

The trio of younger doctors looked vaguely disappointed. Finally Cameron looked over at House. "How is Greg feeling? You should let Chase reexamine him and see how the antibiotics are working."

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"Easy buddy." Wilson said gently as House shifted around on the exam table. "Doctor Chase just needs to see if your medicine is working or not."

"So you really decided against any sort of rehab?" Chase asked as he took House's temp.

Wilson nodded. "Well it was more like I went along with his doctor's advice. He felt it would only add to Greg's stress level. With the amount of damage…"

Chase gave Wilson a gentle smile. "I've been over his file several times. I understand." He looked at the thermometer. "His temp is back up again. I hate to say this but I think we might need another urine sample and possibly blood work. I'm afraid the infection might have moved to his kidneys."

"Well?" Wilson asked. "You must have an opinion."

"On kidney infections?"

"On Greg and the therapy."

"I think…" Chase paused. "I think that House trusted you to do the right thing when he left you as his medical proxy. I think you knew him better than anyone else and that you are a kind, caring person who wants the best for the people he cares about. I also agree with Cuddy. You need to stop worrying so much. Especially about what others think. Are you really going to let what someone like Thirteen thinks effect you?"

"How's Greg?" Cuddy interrupted before Wilson could answer.

"We won't know until we run some more tests."

**Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger but...well I promise I will update tomorrow ;)**


	22. Chapter 22

**As promised, the next chapter. Disclaimer and enjoy (hopefully)**

"Greg, you need to hold still." Wilson said patently as House flailed his arm trying to prevent Dr. Chase from inserting the needle to draw his blood.

"Can't you distract him with something?" Chase asked as he ducked to avoid being hit in the face.

"What do you want me to do? Ask him to look over here so we can stick a needle in his arm?" Wilson tried to force House's arm down but House was stronger than he looked. "Come on buddy work with us here."

"NO!" House wailed. He stopped flailing and crossed his arms firmly across his chest. "No."

"Doesn't he have a toy or something you can wave in front of his face? Where's that bear of his he is always carrying around?" Chase looked down at House's backpack.

"At Cuddy's." Wilson sighed. "Can we take a break? I'll run to the gift shop and grab something."

Chase nodded and Wilson hurried to the lobby in search of a new bear. When he stopped in front of the gift shop he was faced with several rows of ugly bright pink and blue bears that were obviously intended for welcoming new babies into the world. He looked around. The only other stuffed toys the gift shop had at the moment were a small stuffed cat and a stuffed unicorn wearing a pink tutu.

"I'd go with the one in the tutu." A voice came from behind Wilson. "House will just love that."

"I am not letting him be seen carrying that thing around." Wilson turned to Cameron. "Great. I don't think he would like any of these things."

"Can't you just drive home and get him something? He has a million stuffed animals."

Wilson shook his head. "No…I need something closer. Maybe…wait!" Wilson started to jog over to the elevator.

"Wilson! Wait! I wanted to ask you about something." Cameron jogged after him, stepping into the elevator just as the door closed. "Are you serious about not taking House to any sort of therapy?"

Wilson nervously drummed his fingers against the side of the elevator. "Can this wait? I have a sick friend down there."

"It's just I've been reading this article about therapy dogs and I think it would be great for him." Cameron tried to keep up with Wilson as he walked briskly out of the elevator. "I went online and did a bunch of research…"

"Dogs?" Wilson threw open the door to his office. "House hates dogs." Wilson moved behind his desk and pulled a honey colored teddy bear wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope off of the shelf.

"These are specially trained dogs." Cameron explained. She looked down at the bear in Wilson's hand. "You're giving House that bear? Aren't those bears expensive? It's from the Vermont Teddy Bear Company right?"

"It was a gift." Wilson smiled down at the bear. The gift in fact had come from House. He had left the bear on Wilson's desk the day Wilson had moved into his new office. A little sticky note on the bear's paw had simply read _finally found something as soft and squishy as you.-Greg_ Wilson knew House was making a poke at the weight he had recently gained at the time but he had still loved the bear with its embroidered _Dr. James Wilson_ on its little lab coat. It had remained in his office ever since. Until now that is. House needed it more than he did.

"Oh. Well will you just think about the dog?" Cameron asked. "I think it could really help him. The article talked about how these dogs have helped people with autism and anxiety related disorders. They even had a part about the dogs helping children born with severe mental handicaps come out of their shells and be able to communicate better."

"I'll think about Cameron. I have to get back downstairs." Wilson rushed back down to the clinic, bear in hand. He slowed down as he reached the exam room door. "Hey buddy. Look who I found. Remember this guy?" Wilson held up the teddy bear.

House looked over just long enough for Chase to quickly draw some blood from his arm. He looked down just in time to see his former duckling secure a cotton ball with a band-aid over the now bleeding area on his arm. "Ouch!" House gave Chase a dirty look.

"See." Chase smiled. "That wasn't so bad was it? Now we just have to check out what's going on in your blood and urine and we can get you all better." House frowned and grabbed the teddy bear from Wilson. "Where did you find that bear? Not in the gift shop."

"It was in my office." Wilson said causally. "Looks like it is Greg's bear now."

House held the bear close to his chest. "Mine." He announced.

Chase snorted. "That's a great lesson. You grab something, say it's yours and you get to keep it."

"I gave it to him." Wilson said defensively. "How long is it going to take to run the tests?"

"I'll have the results back in a few minutes. I'll be right back." Cuddy nearly bumped into Chase as he made his exit.

"Hey Greg. How are you sweetie?" She smiled at House who ignored her in favor of his new toy.

"Chase is running the tests right now. I think he was overly optimistic with his "it will only be a few minutes" though."

"James, we need to talk about you coming back to work. You are maxed out on almost all of your leave. I am running out of excuses to pay you. Not to mention the fact that the staff and your patents really miss you around here. Please tell me you have been at least considering opinions for Greg while you are at work?"

Wilson kicked at the side of his chair. "Well I have looked into some things but nothing seems like it will work for Greg. I don't want to leave him alone with a stranger all day. I looked into Adult Daycare but that mainly seems to be for seniors who have dementia or have suffered from a stroke. I don't know…Cameron said something about dogs…"

"Dogs? Wilson this isn't Peter Pan. You can't leave Greg alone with Nana while you are at work."

"Therapy dogs. I know the dog couldn't look after him. I just thought maybe…I don't know."

"James, you really need to start seriously looking into this. What about the daycare here? It is here for the staff. You could go down and check on him if you need to."

"I am not leaving Greg with a bunch of preschoolers all day."

"Umm…did I come in at a bad time?" Chase eyed Cuddy and Wilson apprehensively.

"No,no." Cuddy smiled at the young doctor. "It's fine. Do you have the results of the tests back already?"

"It's not good but it's not terrible. The infection has spread to his kidneys but that is obviously really treatable. I am just going to double up the antibiotic he is already on with another really strong antibiotic. The pain med he is already on seems to be working but I am going to prescribe him something to help settle his stomach a bit to go along with that. Basically, he is going to be on a lot of meds." He looked at Wilson. "Normally I would stay we should keep him over night but being that his caregiver is a doctor I don't think that will be necessary. Take him home, get him comfy on the couch and try to get something in his stomach. Hopefully we can knock this thing out this time."

"Thanks Chase. Are you ready to go home buddy?" He looked at House who was still engrossed in carefully studying his new bear.

"We still need to finish our conversation James."

"I know Lisa. I promise once I get things settled down at home…"

"I'll stop by later and we can go over some ideas I had. One that doesn't involve Greg being left at home with a dog as a babysitter."

"Are you talking about Cameron's therapy dog idea?" Chase asked. He turned to Wilson. "You should check out the website for these people in Jersey. I am not much of a dog person but the idea is really cool. It could help House."

"So I've heard. Come on Greg let's go. We get to stop at the pharmacy and pick up more meds for you." House wrinkled up his nose and followed Wilson out the door, still clutching tightly to the teddy bear.


	23. Chapter 23

**This chapter introduces a new permanent character to this story..hopefully you guys like him =) **

"Greg, no. Jimmy Bear does not want to eat your Jell-o or you Popsicle. If you keep doing that I'm going to have to take the bear away and put it in the wash." Wilson grabbed the quickly melting Popsicle from House's hand and stuck it in a bowl on the coffee table.

"Jimmy Bear?" Cuddy raised an eyebrow at Wilson.

"House named it. Back when it was still sitting in my office and he would come in and hide it from me." Wilson answered. "He would always leave a note saying _where's Jimmy Bear? _where the bear had been sitting. One time I eventually found the bear on the hospital roof. He would leave clues in my office throughout the day…Greg, no!" He pulled a bottle of juice away from the older man. "Give me that. If you aren't going to drink it I am going to take it away."

"Just let him play with the damn bear. You can always wash the thing later. We need to figure this out." Cuddy sat on the floor in front of the coffee table with a bunch of fliers and brochures in front of her. "How about this place? This one looks nice."

"No. I've already been over all of these and none of them are right for Greg. He needs…I don't know but it isn't what any of these places offer." Wilson sighed. "Maybe I should look into in-home care. At least then he wouldn't have to be around other people."

"Maybe it would be good for him to be around other people." Cuddy pointed out. "He could make some new friends."

"With who? Little kids? Drooling old people?" Wilson threw up his arms. "Leaving him with a dog is starting to sound better and better."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Well I will just get on the phone with Disney and let them know we need the dog from Peter Pan, stat. Come on Wilson. You need to be realistic. This isn't the old House we are talking about here. Greg doesn't mind being around people. He loves it when he sees his former fellows."

"But he knows them. He remembers them from before. Maybe I can just bring him to work with me."

"Yeah that will work great. He can just play in a corner of the OR while you perform surgery. We can just set up a….wait a minute. Wilson have you filled that office space down the hall from your office yet?"

Wilson shook his head. "No. For some reason everyone says the room is too bright. I like the big window in there myself but…"

"I have to go. I'll call you later on in the week. Bye Greg. Be good."

"Nom." Greg answered as he shoved some Jell-o into his teddy bear's face.

Wilson moved over to the lap top next to the piles of paper and brought up the website for the New Jersey Rescue Dogs for Assistance League again. It was worth a try.

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Wilson nervously approached the brick building clutching the map quest directions in his hand. House was still napping in the car. He was sure it was the right place because of the barking coming from inside the building but felt unsure about going inside. "Hello?" The lobby looked deserted.

Suddenly a bright faced young girl holding a large German Shepherd on leash popped into the lobby. "Dr. Wilson? Hi! I can't believe you came down here on such short notice! But this is awesome. We don't have anything else planned for today and we just got back like three dogs. Where's your friend?"

"He's in the car." Wilson said nervously. "Do you always get everyone down here so quickly?" He looked around the bare lobby.

"No. No. Well, I mean we usually have a waiting list and all this paperwork and all sorts of other crazy stuff. But you are one of the few people who seem willing to work with our shelter dog outreach program. So far we have had a bunch of these guys visiting hospitals and nursing homes but no takers on people who want to actually take one of these guys home. I don't know why. They have had the same training as all of the other dogs, right Duke?" The girl looked down at the Shepherd who wagged its tail in return. "I'm Annie. Do you want to meet some of the dogs?"

"Umm…sure. I have a few questions…"

"Follow me." Wilson found himself whisked into what looked to be a doggy playroom of sorts. "Come on Duke. I will be right back."

Wilson looked around the room. It was much nicer in here than in the lobby but he was still skeptical. When he had called the number he had found online he had been expecting to be mailed at bunch of paperwork and maybe asked a few questions not given directions to the place. He wasn't entirely sure about the whole shelter dog idea either. The concept of rescuing dogs and training them to help people sounded nice but how did these people know if the dog had a decent temperament or not? He sure didn't want Greg to get bitten.

The girl popped her head back into the room. "Go get your friend. I am going to have one of the trainers bring in Lucy. You will just love her."

Wilson walked gingerly out to the car and retrieved a very sleepy House. "Come on buddy. You want to see some dogs?" Wilson was having second thoughts on the whole subject. Greg was still under the weather from his kidney infection.

"Yay!" Greg's newest word. Wilson shook his head. At least it was better than his other latest vocabulary discovery of "won't". They made their way back into the little room just as smaller black lab was making its way through another door.

"Hello Dr. Wilson. I am Victoria, one of the trainers here, and this is Lucy. Lucy is a purebred black lab we rescued from a local shelter and put into training about a year ago. Lucy has been on loan to a local school for disabled children but they started having some problems with allergies so she had to come back. Would your friend like to say hi to Lucy?"

Greg sat on a bench looking unimpressed with the dog. "No." He finally said as the dog moved closer. He scrambled closer to Wilson as the dog opened its mouth and began to pant.

"Maybe this isn't the best idea. He's been sick and…"

"It's okay." The trainer smiled. "Not every dog is right for every client and we don't expect you to leave with a dog today. Lucy might be a bit too outgoing for your friend. We have a few other dogs I would like him to meet."

"Oh sorry." The door opened again and a small shaggy copper colored spaniel ambled in the door. "I didn't realize someone was in here." A young blond girl hurried in behind the dog.

"It's okay." Victoria said agreeably. "Dr. Wilson and his friend Greg are just here to meet a few of our dogs."

"Oh yay!" The girl smiled. "Oh wow." She looked over at the spaniel that now had its head in House lap and was wagging its tail furiously as House played with one of the dog's big floppy ear.

"What?" Wilson asked in alarm. "Is that dog going to bite him?"

"Oh no." The blond girl said quickly. "All of the dogs here have been specially trained. We keep the dogs that are still being evaluated and the ones in training in a different kennel. It's just that Rusty doesn't go to anyone."

"The dog was abused before we got him." Victoria explained. "He passed all of the training with flying colors but he just doesn't seem to want to bond with people. He never snaps or growls and follows commands perfectly. But when he isn't doing a job he just kind of sits there. I have never seen him wag his tail like that."

"I take it this wasn't one of the dogs on your list?" Wilson looked down at the scruffy little dog that was now making House giggle.

"I don't think Rusty was on anybody's list. We were actually starting to think we would have to transfer him over to a dog rescue and see if he could find a home as a pet. Do you want to take him out of here Mandy?"

"Mine." House said irritably as the blond girl started to clip a leash to the little spaniel's collar. "Mine!"

Wilson sighed. "Does this dog do all of the stuff the other dogs listed on your website can do? Retrieve things and turn things on and off and all of that?"

"Oh yeah." Victoria answered. "He is a little small to be pulling your friend around if he is ever in a wheel chair though. But when we talked you said you were mainly looking for a dog as a companion who could make Greg feel more secure when you were at work? Rusty has been fully certified, just like all of our other dogs. He has his vest and can go anywhere your friend goes."

Wilson looked at House again. He had knocked a dog toy off of the bench and the little spaniel had picked it up and dropped it in his lap. "I wasn't planning on taking a dog home today…"

"Oh of course not." Victoria said quickly. "We can send you home with paperwork to go and you can sleep on it. If you decide you want to give the dog a try we will set up a home visit with one of our trainers who will go over what the dog can do then there is a two week trial period to make sure the dog is a good fit."

"Sounds good." Wilson nodded. "Come on Greg."

"NO! Mine!" Rusty sat patiently wagging his tail as House pulled on his collar.

"How soon can you set up that home visit?"


	24. Chapter 24

**I was going to wait awhile before updating this fic so people could could catch up on the last few chapters I just posted but I got bored so here we are.**

**Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed and enjoyed this story so far! You guys are awesome (a special thanks my regular reviewers, you know who you are!) Thanks also for all the great ideas everyone has suggested for this story! I am writing them into the storyline as fast as I can. This story has turned out a lot longer than I originally thought it would be but as long as you guys seem to still be enjoying it I guess I will keep it going. Here is chapter 24...hope it turned out okay!  
**

"Thanks Victoria. We will be sure to call you if we have any questions." Wilson closed the front door and turned to House who lay on the couch fidgeting with the ears on his new dog. "Well I hope you're happy now. You have your dog."

"Ouch." House pointed at his throat.

Wilson rubbed his temples where he could feel the headache forming. "Maybe your throat wouldn't hurt if you hadn't spent the past two days screaming about nothing."

It was hard for Wilson to disguise the frustration in his voice. House had screamed all the way home from the dog kennel. Not even stopping for fast food had been enough of a distraction. He had thrown his milkshake against the dash board and when Wilson finally got him to eat a few fries he threw them up a few minutes later. The younger doctor was so aggravated by the time they got home that he had shoved House into his bedroom and left him there to cry himself to sleep. When the tear stained House finally emerged later that night he spent the rest of the night and most of the next day laying on the couch whining about his sore throat. He refused to get up off the couch during the dog trainer's home visit and Wilson swore it was only the grace of god that kept him from strangling the older man as he whined and complained the entire time Victoria was going over instructions for the dog.

"Oww!" House tried again a little bit louder.

"Do you want some lunch?" Wilson asked. "You haven't really eaten anything since those fries you puked up."

"Nom." House said grumpily, pointing to a melting bowl of strawberry sorbet on the coffee table.

Wilson shook his head. "Frozen sugary juice doesn't count as lunch. Do you want a sandwich?"

"Mine Dusty." House replied in the same grumpy tone as he pointed down at the dog. Rusty looked up at his new owner from the floor and gave a good natured wag of his tail. "Mine."

Wilson sighed. "You've been on that couch for too long. You have been on your antibiotics long enough that your kidney infection should be clearing up. Why don't we go outside? Maybe some fresh air will do you some good."

"No! Ouch!" House pointed at his throat. Wilson found himself vaguely amused as Rusty retrieved the jacket House had just tossed across the room, earning himself a look of distain from his master. "Bad Dusty!"

"The dog's name is Rusty." Wilson reminded House as he stuffed his struggling friend into his jacket. "And you are going outside whether you like it or not."

"No! Ouch! Bad! Won't!" House howled. He tried grabbing hold of every object they passed as Wilson hauled him out to the backyard. The younger man could feel his headache building and hoped that once they reached the yard it would buy him some peace and quiet.

House flopped down in the grass next to his dog and gave Wilson a scowl. Wilson had to admit the backyard was pretty boring. The only thing out there besides a few weedy trees was a moldy looking soccer ball. "Why don't you play ball with Rusty?" Wilson encouraged, kicking the ball closer to House.

"Dusty no." House grouched. He curled in a small ball on the grass and wrapped a hand around Rusty's collar. "Me ouch."

Wilson sighed. "Fine. If you are feeling that sick you can just go inside and go to bed. Is that what you want?" House gave his friend a defiant glare and curled himself up tighter. For some reason this made Wilson snap. "That's it!" He grabbed House by the sleeve. This set off a new round of whining. "You are going inside and going to bed. I have had enough of your attitude."

"No bed!" House wailed as Wilson pulled him down the hall and gently pushed him into his room. "No mine!" He struggled to keep his jacket on as Wilson yanked it off and threw it to the floor. House's dog sat in the corner with a quizzical look on its furry face.

"Put on your pajamas." Wilson held out the pile of clothes, forgetting for a moment that House hadn't dressed himself the entire time he had been home.

"No you! Ouch!" House rubbed his throat.

"Damn-it!" Wilson threw the pile of clothes on the floor as his head began to throb. "I can't take this right now! Just lie down and be quiet." House started to sniffle as Wilson slammed the bedroom door and stormed his way into the living room. As he sank into the couch he realized House's dog was sitting there looking up at him. "What? Oh don't you start…I was not too hard on him. You saw the way he was acting." The dog whined and lay down. "Great, James. Now you have really lost it. You're talking to a dog." Rusty disappeared into the hallway as the oncologist flipped on the TV and turned up the volume to drown out the whining coming from House's bedroom.

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"Is that little brown thing House's new dog?" Cuddy laughed as she dropped a bag next to Wilson on the couch.

"Don't you knock?" Wilson frowned as he looked up. "I didn't even hear you come in."

"Your dog answered the door. Unless that scruffy looking spaniel is the neighbor's dog that snuck into your house." Cuddy shook her head in disapproval. "Don't they ever groom those dogs? His coat is horrible."

"What do expect?" Wilson grouched. "It's Greg's dog. I'm surprised the dog isn't screaming and throwing himself around the living room."

"Is everything okay? Where's House?"

"He's in his room." Wilson sighed, rubbing his forehead. "And no. I have a headache and lost my temper. Greg has done nothing but scream and complain about his throat for the past two days. He got ice cream all over the dash board of my car, he puked fries all the front seat and now he won't eat anything but popsicles and sorbet."

A look of worry crossed Cuddy's face. "His throat hurts?"

"Of course his throat hurts. Didn't you hear the part where I said he has done nothing but scream for the past two days? He probably threw up because he got himself so worked up."

"Has he been keeping down his meds?"

"Yes, mother. Why did you stop by anyway? Here to fill me in on your top secret plan for Greg so that I can go back to slaving at the hospital?"

"No. I wanted to see the dog. Are you sure Greg isn't allergic to it? Maybe that's what's bothering his throat."

Wilson groaned. "The dog hasn't even been here a whole day Lisa. It's a nice dog. It makes Greg happy. Hopefully it will make it so I can go back to work without having Greg pitch a fit every time I have to leave."

"Yeah." Cuddy said sarcastically. "I can tell the dog is really helping things around here. I'll leave you to wallow in your misery. There are some goodies for Greg and the dog…what's its name?"

"Rusty. Or Dusty if you ask Greg."

"Okay, well the stuff is in the bag. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Great." Wilson rolled over to face the back of couch, not even bothering to show Cuddy to the door.

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Wilson sat in the dark watching TV. The only noise coming from the hallway now was the occasional whine from House's dog. The little animal wandered out into the living room and sat down in front of Wilson. "What is it Lassie? Did Greg fall into a well?" The dog whined again and headed back down the hall towards House's room. "You have a dog door." Wilson called after the little spaniel. "And your food is in the kitchen. Great, there you go again James. Talking to the damn dog."

Wilson flipped the channel on the TV a few times and turned up the volume. After a few minutes he decided he should go check on House. He hadn't come out of his bedroom since Wilson had dumped him in there hours earlier. He had probably wet his pants by now. Wilson felt a small twinge of guilt for leaving his friend in there so long. Now that his headache was gone he recognized that he had clearly overreacted to House's earlier behavior. Greg was still fighting off the kidney infection and probably didn't feel one hundred percent yet.

"Greg?" Wilson quietly pushed open the bedroom door. Rusty jumped off of the bed and came whining up to Wilson. "Are you awake buddy? Do you want to try some dinner?"

House slowly sat up in bed. "No mine." He said groggily. He pointed to his throat. "Bad ouch."

"Oh buddy." Wilson flipped on the light and moved quickly to the side of the bed. House's sweat soaked hair was matted to the side of his head and his drenched t-shirt clung to his body. As Wilson pulled back the covers he could feel that they were wet too. "Why didn't you come get me?"

House closed his eyes. "Ouch." He tried to lie back down.

Wilson could feel his headache rushing back. "Does your stomach hurt? Is your bladder hurting you again?" Realizing that Greg probably didn't understand half of what he was being asked Wilson led his disoriented friend to the bathroom. "God, you've probably been throwing up your meds and I haven't noticed." Rusty sat watching in the bathroom doorway has Wilson stripped House down to his birthday suit. "Rusty, phone!" The dog disappeared into the living room.

Wilson started running the bathwater as House stood there naked and shivering. He tried to lie down on the bathroom floor. "Ouch." He rubbed his throat again.

"It's okay buddy. I'm going to call Dr. Cuddy okay? You might need to see the doctor again."

"No." House whimpered as Wilson tried to help into the bath. Rusty reappeared and dropped a phone at Wilson's feet. "Mine Dusty."

Picking up the phone Wilson dialed as fast as he could. "Hello? Lisa?.....Yeah…..No…..I know what I said earlier…..Yes. I know…….Are you sure? ……….Okay." Wilson hung up the phone. "Well pal, it looks like we get to take yet another trip back to the hopstial."

**Author' note: This chapter and chapter 25 were oringally one long update but going over it again I decided it was way too long and broke it into two parts. Sorry for the kind of abrupt ending in the chapter.**


	25. Chapter 25

**As noted in the earlier chapter this update was originally part of Chap 25....hope this part turned out okay. Standard disclaimer goes here and hopefully enjoy!**

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"It's just us again." Wilson smiled sheepishly as Cameron stepped into the exam room. "What are you doing in the clinic?"

"I just needed a break from the ER." Cameron sighed. "Some days runny noses and sore throats feel like a vacation compared to drug over doses and accident victims. Is House sick again already? He's still on meds….Oh! Is that the new dog?" Cameron noticed Rusty sitting quietly on the exam table next to House. "He's so tiny and cute!"

"Mine Dusty." House said miserably as he lay down on the exam table. Rusty jumped out of his way and sat by Wilson's feet. "Bad ouch."

"Cuddy said it's his throat this time? Are you sure it just isn't all of the screaming you were bitching to Cuddy about earlier? Has he been eating? Drinking? Has he been running a fever?"

"He seemed fine for awhile after Chase adjusted his meds." Wilson put a comforting hand on House's shoulder. "A little grumpy but fine. He was really grouchy that day we went and looked at dogs. He threw a fit on the way home. He threw up in the car but I thought that he just got himself all worked up and made himself sick."

Cameron looked concerned. "Has he vomited since?"

Wilson shook his head. "He hasn't really wanted to eat anything since either though. Just popsicles and other cold stuff. He has been drinking a lot of juice."

"Well, let's take a look. It could just be a little cold or maybe a mild case of allergies. Greg, I am going to need you to sit up sweetie."

"Come on buddy, up we go." Wilson helped his friend sit back up. "It's okay."

"Say aww." Cameron stuck a tongue depressor in House's mouth as he opened. "His throat looks pretty red. Why didn't you take a look at home?"

Wilson looked a bit guilty. "I just thought he was being a brat until he woke up soaked in sweat not too long ago. Then I panicked and thought he had been puking up his meds and I hadn't noticed so the kidney infection had flared up again."

Cameron rolled her eyes affectionately. "You know for a doctor you sure panic a lot."

"Side effect of being friends with House all of those years. You start to expect the worst."

Cameron let out a small laugh. "I can see that. I am going to need you to hold him still so I can take a throat culture."

"You think he has strep throat?" Wilson asked as he put his hands on House's shoulders. "Okay buddy, this is going to sting a little. We need you to stay really still and keep your mouth open."

"Just ruling it out." Cameron said as she quickly swabbed the back of House's throat. "All done."

"Ouch." House sniffled pitifully. Rusty jumped back up on the exam table and put a paw on his wounded owner's leg.

"I always hate that one too." Cameron said sympathetically. She looked over at Wilson. "I want to run a quick blood and urine sample too. Just to make sure the antibiotics are still working on that kidney infection."

Wilson pointed to a cup on the counter. "The nurse took care of the pee portion already. As for the blood sample I came prepared this time." Wilson reached down for House's backpack and pulled out the teddy bear in the lab coat. "Look Greg. I have your Jimmy Bear."

"Jimmy Bear?" Cameron smirked.

"It's a long story. Look Greg. It's your bear." Wilson held up the honey colored teddy.

"Mine." House said hazily, eyes focused on the bear. He turned around as he felt a needle prick his arm. "Ouch."

"All done." Cameron quickly pulled the needle back out. "You can lay back down now sweetie."

"Here buddy. Have your bear." House pulled the bear to his chest and curled up on the exam table using Rusty as a pillow. "So if it is strep…."

"Here is what I am thinking. He caught the strep awhile ago but the antibiotics he was on were fighting it and covering up the symptoms. But the antibiotics aren't strong enough to fight his kidney infection and the strep. The strep gets worse and you guy come here."

Wilson threw up his arms. "Do you ever feel like you are stuck in a really bad story where the writer is doing things just to mess with you? Why didn't Chase catch the strep if it was already there?"

"You know how these things go. We were looking for things causing urinary pain…the throat usually isn't on that list. Chase was trained by House…eliminate the horses before you go looking for zebras. Chase found a horse and thought he found the problem."

Wilson sighed. "So if it is strep what do we do? More antibiotics?"

Cameron shook her head. "We need to beat this thing. I recommend that we keep him here on IV antibiotics until both the kidney infection and the strep are gone. We can monitor him closer and if something comes up he will already be here. No more panicking."

Wilson looked over at his curled up friend on the exam table. "Wouldn't he be more comfortable at home?"

"If he needs to stay here you know we will do our best to make him comfortable. I'll see if Foreman can get him that same room he was in last time. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that it isn't strep."

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"So big guy." Taub smiled at the incredibly grumpy House who sat in a wheel chair in front of him. "What brings you back so soon? I hear your throat is giving you some trouble."

"We didn't cross our fingers tightly enough." Wilson frowned. "Thanks for getting us the room again. It really is pretty close to what I did with his room at home."

"What's with the dog?" Taub asked. "He looks a little small to be a service dog."

Wilson raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty funny coming from you."

"Ha ha. I can see you inherited House's former sense of humor. Cuddy told us you were in a great mood when she stopped by your place earlier. Are things going okay with the dog?"

Wilson sighed. "Rusty is fine. I just feel bad that House is sick again. I haven't been very nice to him the past few days. I completely ignored his symptoms because I thought he was just being a brat. Now he is stuck here again."

"At least you'll get a break." Taub pointed out. "Relax. We'll take good care of him. Do you want to get him into the gown?"

"I brought some of his pajamas from home just in case. Well actually I brought a bunch of stuff from home." Wilson motioned to House's overflowing backpack. "Is that okay?"

"That should be fine. Anything to make him more comfortable. Why don't you get him settled and I'll send Kutner up in a minute. He and Foreman are with our other patient."

"And Dr. Hadley?" Wilson asked nervously.

"Was transferred to another department as soon as Cuddy found out Foreman refused to fire her."

"What?" Wilson spat causing House and Rusty to both jump a little.

"Did you hear? Fourteen is back. They kissed and made up." Taub shrugged. "I guess she must be really good in bed." Taub smiled at House. "See you later Greg. We'll get you all better, okay?"

"No." House moaned as Wilson pulled a curtain and helped him into his pajamas. Rusty settled himself at the end of the hospital bed.

"Remember this room? You liked all the frogs on the walls last time." Wilson pointed to a picture on the wall as he pulled a small fleece blanket out of House's backpack and used it to cover his friend. "You just have to stay here until you are better. Rusty and I will be here too. So will Jimmy Bear." Wilson handed House back his teddy.

"Jimmy Bear?" Kutner eyeballed Wilson as he came into the room. "Nice dog. Is that House's new service dog? I thought he would be bigger."

"We went for the economy size." Wilson sighed, tired of answering both questions. "And the bear is a long story."

"Nice. Looks like House has another pretty nasty infection going on. I brought up some IV bags." Kutner looked over at House. "He would probably be disappointed that his diagnosis is so boring."

"I don't know." Wilson said wryly. "Brain damage, a kidney infection and strep throat seems like a case worthy of House's team of ducklings to me."

"Ducklings?" Kutner questioned.

"Another long story. Do you want me to hold him while you insert the IV?"

"That would be good." Kutner moved over to the bed. "I'll try to be quick as possible."

"Easy." Wilson soothed as House tried to pull his arm away. "You should be used to this by now. It's okay."

"Done." Kutner announced. "Now I am just going to put a dose of anti-nausea meds into the IV bag and we are done. Oh yeah." Kutner's voice dropped. "He is still wearing…."

"No catheter." Wilson said sharply. "And tell the nurses not to worry about it. I'll take care of him."

"Cuddy told me you would be going home." Kutner said confused. "Something about needing a break and working on coming back to work? We even had someone lined up to walk the dog." Rusty lifted his head from his place at the end of House's bed.

"Wilson?" House asked softly.

"It's okay buddy." Wilson said softly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Will you at least let me take you to dinner?" Cuddy's voice came from the doorway. "I hear the food here isn't very good."

Wilson looked over at House who was very obviously drifting off to sleep. "Sure." Wilson said slowly. "But only if it is my treat."


	26. Chapter 26

**The story continues....disclaimer goes here! =) A special thanks to momsboys for pointing out that I should probably explain where House's family is in all of this and again another huge thanks to all of you awesome people who read/review/enjoy this piece of fan fiction! =D**

Walking into the restaurant Wilson sudden became acutely aware of how shabby he looked. He was wearing a very faded pair of khaki pants and a worn out red sweater that House had always referred to as Wilson's "Merry Holidays" sweater in days long since past. He looked down. Even the loafers he was wearing were beat up and scuffed. The oncologist quickly ran a hand over his hair in futile effort to tidy it.

"Will you relax? This is Chili's not the Ritz. No one cares what you look like." Cuddy laughed. "Quit messing with your hair. It looks fine. Table for two please?"

Wilson quietly followed Cuddy and their waiter to the table. He was hoping to make this dinner quick. He hated the thought of leaving House at the hospital for so long with only Dusty-Rusty for company. "Um…so. How are things?" Wilson asked a bit nervously. "Still plotting my return?"

"I think you are going to love my idea." Cuddy smiled. She turned to the waiter. "Two coffees please."

Wilson almost laughed. "Are you ordering for me?"

"Calm down. I figured you must be tired and could use some caffeine. I know I can. Back to the plan for Greg. You know the empty office I was asking you about? No one is ever going to use that thing. It's huge but it is almost wasted space. So I thought why not give Greg his own office. It's right down the hall from yours and…"

"Wait? His own office? To do what in?" Wilson eyed his boss suspiciously. "You aren't planning some weird surgery in a crazy attempt to cure him are you?"

"Will let me finish? No I am not planning some mad scientist attempt at replacing Greg's brain. I am suggesting that we make a place near your office where he can be during the day. You'll have to pay for someone to watch him of course but I won't charge you for the space. It already belongs to the Oncology department and since you are the department head the space technically belong to you anyway."

Wilson scratched his head. "I don't know. It sounds great but will the board go for it?"

"After the whole Vogler debacle the board doesn't bother to argue with me anymore. I could propose that all the doctors in the building have to wear Mickey Mouse ears on Mondays and they would vote yes. I don't even think they read over half of what I bring in anymore. Trust me. The board will not be a problem."

"What about finding someone to watch him?" Wilson asked as their coffee arrived. "Um…I'll have the mushroom-Swiss burger with fries."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Really healthy James. I'll have the grilled chicken with a side salad instead of fries."

"What? It's a burger. It's not like I ordered it with extra cheese and bacon."

Cuddy gave Wilson an affectionate smile. "It's fine. I'm just picking on you. You know for someone who claims to have been friends with House for so long you sure are sensitive."

Wilson blushed. "I'm…just tired. I'm sorry."

"It's okay! Now where was I? The room….I already recruited Cameron and Kutner to set it up for you. There was a bunch of little shelves and bins for holding toys in storage leftover from the old Children's Oncology playroom. Foreman says we can have the TV out of his office because he never watches it….imagine that! A head of diagnostics that doesn't watch TV all day…..oh and I thought you could probably just bring a bunch of House's toys from home. He has enough of them."

"And this someone to watch him?"

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it as long as you pay her. Or him. I've been though all of this before trying to find the perfect nanny for Rachel." Cuddy paused and looked down. "Crap. My pager is going off." Her eyes grew wide. "Wilson…we have to leave."

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Wilson ran down the hallway to House's room. House wasn't there but Dr. Chase was sitting on the end of the bed waiting for him. "Don't panic."

"Don't panic?" Wilson spat. "You send Cuddy a page that you are taking Greg in for dialysis and you tell me not to panic?"

"Calm down Dr. Wilson." Chase said evenly. "It is just an extra precaution. I was worried about his kidneys because of his past history and the infection. We got him to throw up most of the pills. After dialysis he won't even need the usual NAC treatment, which is great because it would have prevented him from taking his usual Vicodin."

"How did he even get into that much Tylenol? Are we just leaving medication laying around in patient's rooms now? Is this some new treatment for brain damage that I wasn't aware of?"

"Dr. Wilson, calm down. We don't know what happened. All we know is that Kutner came in and found the open bottle of pills on his bed. He never left his bed and we don' know where they came from. Security is investigating." Chase paused to take a breath. "What I do know is that Dr. House is scared. He is in the dialysis room with only a dog and a stuffed bear for company. You need to calm down so can go down there and be there for him."

Wilson took a deep breath and nodded. "Thanks Chase." Wilson slowly made his way to the dialysis room. House lay on a bed with two huge tubes sticking out of his left arm. Someone had wrapped the area where the tubes went in tightly with a bright pink flexible cohesive bandage to keep him from pulling them out. The older man's free hand was wrapped tightly around Rusty's collar. The little dog looked up as Wilson approached. Cameron sat in a chair next to the bed holding House's teddy bear.

"Dr. Wilson." Cameron jumped up from the chair. "He is doing okay. Just a little scared."

"Wilson." House whimpered.

"It's okay buddy. I'm here now." Wilson carefully took a seat at the end of the bed. "I'm sorry I ever left. You're being awfully brave, you know that? I bet having Rusty here helped."

"Mine Dusty." House gripped tighter to the little dog's collar. His eyes were filled with fear. "Mine Wilson."

"He is going to have to be in here for at least another four hours." Cameron said sadly. "I don't know how this happened. I have never heard of this kind of mistake in a hospital before. Kutner was worried about the dog but Rusty seems fine. Apparently the dog has more sense than House about what to put in his mouth."

"The dog has been trained to only eat from his bowl. I hadn't gotten around to teaching Greg that trick yet." Wilson replied sharply. Wilson's sudden change in tone caused House to eyeball his friend nervously. Wilson lowered his voice. "Shhh buddy. Not you. You're not in trouble. Just relax. Do you want your teddy bear?"

"Mine." House agreed quietly. He let out a small whimper of fear as Wilson handed him the bear and began to rub his shoulder.

Wilson turned to Cameron. "Can't we get a TV in here for him? There are a bunch of his DVDs in his backpack. At least bring me a book so I can read to him." Cameron nodded and quickly left the room. "Cameron is going to get you something to watch. Did you watch TV in your room when I was gone? I saw Sponge Bob on the screen when I was leaving. What's that guy up to? Does he still have the pet snail?"

Wilson found thinking up conversation to distract House surprisingly difficult. In their past life as best friends the pair didn't as much converse as they did sit and poke fun at each other. At home Wilson really only talked to House if he was asking him a question or telling him to do things, sometimes to comfort him. Coming up with a whole conversation felt totally foreign. The younger doctor was relieved when Cameron quickly returned pushing a TV cart and carrying a handful of DVDs.

"I found one with a DVD player. I didn't want to go all the way up to his room so I grabbed some of the hospital's DVD collection. I hope he likes Blue's Clues. They didn't have any other kid's movies and everything else looked too boring to hold his attention."

"Yay!" House exclaimed, completely forgetting his fear and discomfort with the arrival of the TV. He held up Rusty's paw. "Dusty yay."

Cameron smiled. "I take it he has seen the show before? My three year old niece loves it."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Only a million times…before and after the incident. House used to love to watch kid's shows over at my place just to bother me. This one was always his favorite. He used to pretend to be all into solving the clues just to get on my nerves."

Cameron giggled. "I remember he once got pissed at Chase and made him watch two hours of Sesame Street videos because he said Chase needed to be reeducated on basic numbers."

Wilson sighed. "Aw, yes. House the mentor." He paused and looked a bit sad. "Well now Blue's Clues is a staple at our house along with Big Bird and the gang. I keep hoping he will pick up some letters or numbers from the show."

"Why?" Cameron asked a bit puzzled.

Wilson shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess it would just give me a little hope." He reached over and took House's free hand. "You doing okay there buddy?"

"No." House whimpered. Apparently the TV was only a momentary distraction. "Bad."

"I know Greg." Wilson gave his friend a comforting smile. "We'll be back in your other room soon."

"He's going to have to stay longer because of this." Cameron pointed out. "The dialysis will filter out all of the meds in his system, not just the bad ones. We are going to have to take a ton of urine and blood samples because we can't monitor his urine output with a catheter. Do you think we should contact House's mom and let her know…just in case?"

Wilson shook his head. "Cuddy tried to contact her when this all started. House being House, he didn't have any contact information for his parent's in his file. Apparently he had it all deleted after his dad's funeral. The only number I have for his mom has been disconnected and the closest we could get to any real information was that Mrs. House had sold their condo after House's dad died. She told the real estate agent she was moving to Hawaii."

"So she moved without telling House?" Cameron looked a bit outraged.

"I'm sure she told him. Probably even gave him a new phone number. He just made sure to throw it out so no one else would find it. If things look really bad I'll have Cuddy contact that Lucas guy to track his mom down. In the mean time none of the paperwork House filled out before all of this even mentions his family. It names me as his proxy for everything you can imagine and has the board of directors and Cuddy as a backup if I can't or won't do the job."

"That is so sad." Cameron looked over at House lying in the bed watching TV.

Wilson shrugged. "That was House. I wouldn't want to put his mom through this anyway. She deserves some peace."

"Peace is not even knowing what is going on with your own son? Not knowing that he is sick and brain damaged?"

"Peace can be a strange thing. Why don't you go back upstairs? I can take it from here."

After four hours of Blue's Clue Wilson finally found himself pushing House back up to his room in pediatrics. Greg was mostly asleep now; his hand wrapped loosely around his teddy bear. Rusty trotted behind the pair slowly wagging his tail as he tried to keep up.

"I'm so sorry." Foreman greeted Wilson with a sympathetic smile as Wilson moved his friend into the hospital bed. "We are still trying to figure out how this could have happened.

"Well at least we know it isn't your girlfriend this time." Wilson tucked the covers in tightly around Greg, who was now well on his way into dreamland. "She would have tried to overdose the dog not Greg. Of course I better keep a close eye on Rusty. I hear Tylenol poisoning can take awhile before the patient shows any symptoms."

"That dog was an accident." Foreman snapped. "And I am sorry if I can see Remy's point in thinking you are kind of being a creep here. What kind of person takes someone in but doesn't try to get them any treatment?"

"The kind that is following his best friend's doctor's advice." Wilson helped Rusty back up onto the bed. "I am reconsidering. I got him the dog. I am looking into putting him into music therapy of some kind."

"Look. I didn't say I thought you were a bad person. I just said I could understand her point. That's why I chose not to fire her even though I know you and Cuddy thought I should. Now can we move onto talking about Greg here?"

"Sure." Wilson straightened House's pillow a bit and tucked his teddy bear under his arm.

"Well I am sure you are aware that this is a major setback for him going home. That fact that he refuses to leave in a catheter and can't be restrained so he can't pull it out makes this even harder. We are going to have to monitor his blood and urine to make sure that his body is still responding to the antibiotics. If we end up having to go with something even more hardcore the anti-nausea meds he was prescribed earlier might not help anymore and he might have to go on IV nutrition."

"Best case scenario?" Wilson asked nervously.

"He'll keep responding to the antibiotics and be home sometime next week." Cuddy's voice came from behind him. "I had them box up your burger for you."

"Thanks Lisa." Wilson sank into the recliner next to House's bed. Foreman quickly made his exit without saying anything. "I still feel like I am in some kind of bad story. Like someone is just messing with me for the fun of it."

"Everything is going to be fine James. If you want I can come up and watch House later so you can go home and grab anything you might need. Maybe take a shower. Walk Dusty."

"Rusty. And thanks."

House opened his eyes a little. "Mine Wilson?"

"I'm here buddy." Wilson let out a small yawn. He turned to Cuddy. "Has security found anything yet? Has anyone admitted to anything?"

"No." Cuddy shook her head. "I am going to have them go down to the pharmacy and see if that sheds any light on this. It was a pretty big bottle of Tylenol. I am hoping someone will have signed something when they pulled it from the shelf. I will let you know as soon as we know anything okay?"

Wilson nodded. "I am going to try to take a nap."

"Okay. You know you can call me if either of you need anything."

"Still feel like someone is just trying to mess with me." Wilson muttered to himself as he tried to get comfortable enough in the chair to fall asleep.

**Author's notes: I realize that Tylenol is more know for causing liver problems and not kidney issues. However in considering the plotline for this chapter the author spent and possibly wasted a conderable ammount of time going over boring medical articles and website to make sure this senario was a least plausable. NAC treatment (an anitdote for Tylenol given orally or by IV) is the normal treatment for Tylenol overdose but in according to a couple of articles I read dialysis has been used to help treat it as well. Thank god for insomnia...it gave me the time to make sure my senario wouldn't have killed House had it been real! I even had time to make sure that there was a Chilis somewhere in the same state as the show takes place, lol.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Sorry it took so long for me to update...I have been busy with some stuff at home =/ Hope this is worth the wait!!!!**

"Come on Greg. Please? Just one bite?" Wilson held the spoon full of chicken noodle spoon up in front of his friend's face. It had been three days since Wilson had been home to take a shower or had a decent night's sleep. Despite Cuddy's constant offers to stay and watch House the oncologist just couldn't bring himself to leave his friend's side, especially after the Tylenol incident. Whoever was responsible had yet to be caught and was still out there lurking around the hospital.

"NO! No nom! Ouch!" House pushed away the spoon causing the contents to splash onto Wilson's already less than tidy shirt. He pointed to his throat. "Ouch."

"Do you want some ice cream?" Wilson offered, putting down the bowl of soup. He was desperate to keep Greg eating and off of IV nutrition.

Cuddy rolled her eyes as she walked in the room. "You're spoiling him. There is no way that soup is going to hurt his throat."

"I don't spoil him." Wilson said indignantly.

"You give him whatever he wants and you give into him whenever he whines. The last time I checked that was the definition of spoiling."

"I do not." Wilson replied grumpily. "Greg, eat your soup." He held out another spoonful.

"Mnnn!" House turned his head and reached for his sports bottle sitting on the bedside table. "Nom." Wilson immediately reached over and handed Greg the bottle of juice.

"Yeah, you don't give in to him at all." Cuddy rolled her eyes again. "Why don't you go home and take a shower James? Maybe even change your shirt? I can stay here with Greg."

Wilson looked down at the soup stain on his shirt and reluctantly nodded. "Greg needs some new pajamas. I'll be right back."

"Take your time. We'll be fine. Right Greg?"

House made a face. "No. Mine Dusty." The little dog looked up from where he had because sleeping on the floor. "Mine Wilson."

"I'll be right back." Wilson promised. He felt a bit guilty as he drove home but that guilt was quickly washed away as the warm water from the shower hit his back. He was sore from sleeping in the recliner for so long. After a long shower Wilson quickly dressed, grabbed some of House's pajamas and returned to the hospital. He was surprised to find Kutner sitting in the recliner reading to House from a Harry Potter book. "Where's Cuddy?"

"House threw soup all over her shirt. She had to go change." The young doctor explained with a smirk.

"Greg." Wilson groaned. House just smiled back at him sweetly.

"Nom." He said pointing to a bowl of ice cream that was quickly being consumed by his little spaniel. "Dusty nom."

"So much for the dog being trained to only eat from its bowl." Wilson sighed as he pulled the straining dog away from the frozen treat and tossed the ice cream into the trash.

"Cuddy wanted to meet up upstairs."

"Are you sure….?"

Kutner held up the book. "You can go. We're just getting to the best part."

"Oookay." Wilson raised an eyebrow. "Be good Greg."

"No." Greg replied sullenly. Clearly Kutner was enjoying the tales of the teenage wizard more than House was. Wilson shook his head as he left the room and headed upstairs.

"You rang?" He smiled at Cuddy. She was wearing a different blouse than the last time Wilson had seen her. "I love the shirt."

"Thanks. Somehow the last one got covered in soup."

"So you rewarded him with ice cream." Wilson said in mock contemplation. "Wouldn't that be the definition of spoiling?"

"Shut up Wilson. I didn't call you up here to mock me. I want to show you something."

Wilson curiously followed Cuddy down the hall and around the corner past his office. They stopped in front of a set of frosted double doors. Across the front in bold letters read _Gregory House MD, assistant to Dr. James Wilson Head of Oncology_. Wilson smiled softly and pushed open the doors. Inside the room had been painted a cheerful blue with white clouds sponge painted over top. Large shelves full of toys lined the walls and a huge table sat in the middle surrounded by bean bag chairs. There was a TV in the corner and a small rack of DVDs sitting next to it.

"Well?" Cuddy asked.

"Wow." said Wilson, clearly overwhelmed. "Did you…?"

Cuddy grinned. "Cameron and Kutner painted and decorated. I just convinced the board to let us do this. As I said it was an easy sell."

"This is amazing! He's going to love it. Have you found someone to watch him yet?"

Cuddy shook her head. "I have done a few interviews but so far no one has wanted the job. For some reason finding someone who wants to have soup thrown at them by a man in his late forties hasn't been easy."

Wilson chewed his bottom lip. "Greg can be difficult."

"Difficult?" Cuddy laughed. "That's an understatement. Did you enjoy your shower?"

Wilson blushed. "Um..yeah. Yes."

"Good. Then you can go to your office and get started on catching up with your patient's files. I want you back at work as soon as I hire someone to watch House. The staff can keep an eye on him in the mean time." Wilson stood looking at Cuddy questioningly. "He'll be fine. Go."

Wilson slowly walked into his office. It had been so long since he had worked in there that everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. Sneezing, Wilson grabbed the patient files off of his desk and sat down to sort through them. He had to admit it felt good to be back doing his job. After making a few phone calls the oncologist looked up at the clock. "That ought to be enough to satisfy Cuddy." Wilson mumbled to himself as he headed back downstairs to House's room. When he arrived at the doorway he was greeted by an empty bed and a panicked looking Kutner.

"Don't panic." Kutner said in a clearly panicked tone.

Wilson closed his eyes. "What now."

"Foreman paged me to go check on our other patient. The nurses said they would watch him…"

"You lost him?" Wilson exploded. "How could you lose him in a hospital? He has the mind of a four year old and you are the second person to have lost him. How sneaky can he be? His brain acts like he's four!"

"Well." Kutner pointed out sheepishly. "Technically the nurses are the ones who lost him. I was with a patient."

"I don't care who…" Wilson paused and looked down at the bed. "Was Rusty here when you realized he was missing?"

"Yeah. It was weird. Someone took a leash and tied the dog to the bed."

"Before he went missing?"

"Yeah. I asked the nurses if…wait. I have an idea. Dusty can find him."

"Rusty. And he is a therapy dog not a search and rescue dog, Kutner. He is not going to be able to find House. Is anybody actually looking for Greg or are we just standing around waiting for him to magically reappear?"

"You didn't have a dog when you were a kid did you?" Kutner let Rusty off of the leash and watched as the little spaniel went zooming down the hall. "Dusty will find him."

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Wilson and Kutner went racing down the hallway following the little spaniel. Rusty paused for a second then dashed into a waiting room. "Greg!" Wilson rushed into the room. House was curled up on a couch breathing heavily. "Greg?"

"He's having a panic attack! Foreman!" Kutner shouted down the hall. "We found him!"

Foreman came jogging in, completely out of breath. "I just passed by here a minute ago. I swear…"

"He's having a panic attack!" Wilson interrupted. His breathing had become almost as heavy as House's was.

"What are you waiting for?" Foreman turned to Kutner. "Go get some Ativan, stat. Wilson; I need you to calm down. You're making this worse."

"Calm down Greg." Wilson wheezed. "It's going to be okay." Just then he noticed the blood on House's arm from where the IV had been pulled out. "He's…"

"Got the Ativan!" Kutner ran up and stabbed Wilson in the arm with a needle.

"What did you do that for?" Foreman snapped.

"I thought." Kutner explained as he administered the other syringe of medication to the gasping House. "That knocking out Wilson would make it easier to deal with House."

Foreman rolled his eyes. "Find some help to get these two back in their room. At least now I'm not the only who has lost House."

"I wasn't me. It was the nurses!" Kutner called after Foreman.

Foreman turned around. "Yeah, yeah blame the nurses."

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Wilson woke up and looked around the room groggily. "What happened?"

"You panicked so Kutner decided to knock you out." Chase explained. He sat on the end of House's empty bed petting Rusty. "Good call on his part. You've been out for the last three and half hours."

Wilson tried to sit up. "Where's Greg? Is he okay?"

"Promise I won't have to knock you out again." Chase looked grim.

"Where is he?" Wilson repeated a little louder.

Chase sighed. "All of the on again, off again with the antibiotics is wreaking havoc on Greg's kidneys. When we brought him back here a nurse realized there was blood in his urine. We are going to put him back on dialysis, start over with the meds and keep our fingers crossed."

"Keep your fingers crossed? That is best you can give me?"

"I'm sorry Dr. Wilson. We are doing our best here."

"Your best? Losing him and making him sicker is your best?"

"He acts like he is four years old. Four year olds wander off. The staff can't be expected to watch him around the clock. We have other patients in this hospital besides House. I'm sorry but it's true."

"You better check to make sure none of them have wandered off too." Wilson snapped. He paused and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Chase. Can I go down and see him? He must be terrified. He was scared out of his mind the last time."

Chase shook his head. "He's almost done. Cameron and Cuddy are both down there with him. I was going to send Dusty down there too but Cuddy is convinced he has fleas or something. He'll be back up really soon. Can I get you anything?"

"No. I'll just wait here. And it's Rusty." Wilson gave a fake smiled and flipped on the TV.

"Hey! You're awake." Kutner came bursting into the room. "I just got done visiting House. I offered Cameron the Harry Potter book we had been reading but she didn't seem interested. I think Dusty is a cuter name than Rusty."

"Cameron is more of a Twilight fan. And I like Rusty." Chase smiled as he left the room.

"Hmm..Haven't read that one yet." Kutner turned back to Wilson. "Sorry I stabbed you. How are you feeling?"

"Like someone who was just dosed with Ativan. How did you know Rusty would find House?"

"When I was a kid I had a German Shepherd named Prince. We used to play hide and go seek together. No matter where I hid Prince always found me."

"Sounds like a great dog." Wilson commented. "My parents were allergic to fur. The only pet I ever had as a kid was a turtle. Fluffy was a great pet but definitely not a dog."

Kutner laughed. "Fluffy the turtle? Hey, there he is." Cameron pushed House into the room in a wheelchair. Rusty stood up on the bed and wagged his tail.

"He did good." Cameron declared. "I have work to get back to so I will turn him over to you two." She looked at Kutner. "Don't lose him this time."

"It wasn't me." Kutner grumped. He turned to Wilson. "Will you two be okay? I kind of have some stuff too."

"Not a problem." Wilson shakily got up and helped House back into bed. He had a hard time getting the IV back in due to the heavily bandaged area where it had been yanked out last time. "Hey buddy. I missed you. Are you okay? Do you want some juice?"

"Mine Dusty." House said weakly as he spotted his dog. He sat up slowly and wrapped his arms around Wilson's torso. "Mine Wilson."

Wilson ran an affectionate hand over House's hair. "You should see the cool play room Cuddy has for you upstairs. If you quit making yourself sick by wandering off…."

"Me no…" House interrupted quietly. "No…." He paused as if searching for the right words. "Bad. No mine Dusty. Bad." He let go of Wilson and fell back onto the pillow.

Wilson shook his head. "I'm sorry Greg. I don't understand what you are trying to say."

House looked frustrated and feebly balled up his fists. "No me! No bad! No bad Dusty!" He looked as if he were about to cry.

"Calm down buddy." Wilson said softly. "It's okay. Do you want to try some more ice cream?"

House perked up a little at the offer of the frozen treat. "Me nom? Dusty nom."

Wilson ruffled House's hair. "Yeah why not." He pushed the button for a nurse all the while pondering the meaning of House's words about leaving the room.


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer goes here.....hopefully this chapter fits okay into the rest of the plot. I was a bit tired when I wrote it. Hope you enjoy =D**

Wilson was still unsure how Cuddy had talked him into going back up to his office. One minute they had been standing there arguing in the hall, the next he was heading towards the elevator. Pushing aside the patient files on his desk, Wilson started at the tiny black and white monitor. House was sitting in bed playing his Gameboy while Rusty napped contently at his feet. Even though he knew that setting up a camera in a patient's room was against hospital regulations being able to check in on House gave Wilson piece of mind.

"Wilson?" Cuddy cautiously pushed open the door.

"Oh, hey." Wilson quickly reached over and switched off the monitor. "Is everything okay?"

"Were you watching TV?" Cuddy laughed. "You know I'm not holding you prisoner in here. You can go back downstairs whenever you want. I was just hoping you would catch up on the rest of your patient files before the end of this century."

Wilson rubbed the back of his neck and stretched. "Sorry. I guess I just needed a break from Greg so I thought I would relax in here for awhile." Wilson hated lying to his boss but the idea of a possible meeting with disciplinary board over violating hospital rules was even less appealing.

Cuddy eyed Wilson suspiciously. "Why don't you watch TV in the Oncology department lounge? They get cable."

"Yeah, well...you know. Other doctors bugging me about when I am coming back and all that." Wilson gave a nervous laugh. "Anyway I better get back to this paperwork. Not going to do itself."

"I thought you said you were in here relaxing?" Cuddy pried.

Wilson cleared his throat. "Yes. Well paperwork can be relaxing…watching TV and doing paperwork at the same time. Multitasking."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "You really need to get some sleep James. People are going to start thinking you are patient that escaped from the psych ward. I just came up to ask you if you wanted me to watch Greg for awhile so you can go home and shower. I can take some of my paperwork into his room and work on it while I'm watching him."

"He threw soup at you."

"And?"

"He threw soup at you."

Cuddy sighed. "Wilson, I have a baby at home. I have gotten a lot worse than chicken noodle soup on my blouse since I brought Rachel home. Do you want me to watch him or not?"

Wilson bit his lower lip. "I'll think about it."

"Okay…but I'm telling you people are going to start thinking you escaped from the psych ward. If they lock you in there I might not let you out."

Wilson didn't respond as Cuddy made her exit. As soon as she was gone he flipped back on the monitor. The picture on the screen still showed House sitting in bed playing his Gameboy and Rusty napping on the end of the bed but the pair was no longer alone in the room. A small boy sat on the end of the bed petting Rusty and watching TV. Curious about House's visitor Wilson slipped out of his office and made his way down to pediatrics.

As soon as Wilson entered the room the little boy jumped up off of the bed. "Dr. Wilson." A pair of green eyes met Wilson's brown ones.

"Caleb? What are you doing in here?" Now that the child was no longer in black and white Wilson recognized him right away. He was the older brother of a four year old girl that he had been treating for leukemia for the past two years. If he remembered correctly the boy's little sister was in remission.

"Watching TV with Greg." The boy said brightly. Wilson guessed him to be about eight years old. "He's weird."

"Do your parents know you're down here?" Wilson questioned. House still hadn't looked up from his Gameboy.

The little boy shrugged. "I don't know. I've been down here before. Greg helped me beat my video game."

"Before when?" Wilson frowned. "Yesterday?"

The boy looked down at his shoes. "No. A couple days ago I guess. Am I in trouble?"

Wilson was still a bit confused as to why this eight year old kid was in House's room. "How do you know Dr. House?" He asked gently. He didn't want to scare the poor kid.

The boy perked up. "He's a doctor? He is so weird! I saw him a long time ago. He was playing checkers by himself so I asked if I could play to and he said no but I started playing anyway so he came up with all of these funny mean names to call me and he won too." The kid was now talking so fast that Wilson could hardly understand him. "Then I saw him again those other days ago and now he can't talk and he is really weirder but he took my Gameboy and played my game and beat the whole last level for me." The kid paused for breath. "I can't never make it past the last boss."

"Okay. Well it is really nice that you want to keep Greg company but I think you better go find your parents." Wilson motioned towards the door. "Do you know where they are?"

"If he's a doctor can he slice people open and fix them?" The kid asked. Greg seemed oblivious to either of their presents, still engrossed in his game.

"No. Do you want me to walk you to the elevator?" Wilson tried again.

"Can I not be friends with him anymore?" The kid stared up at Wilson with huge green eyes.

Wilson knelt down so he was eye level with the kid. "Listen Caleb, it's not a good idea to walk into sick people's rooms okay? You could catch what they have and get really sick yourself. Why don't we go upstairs and find your sister and parents?"

The kid looked down at the floor. "Is this because I gave him my mom's headache pills?"

Wilson stood up. "When did you do that?" His voice became sharp.

The little boy began to cry. "I'm sorry! I know you shouldn't take stuff from grown-up's bag but he said ouch so I wanted to help. I asked the nurse but she said no so I went and got the thing with the headache pills from my mom's bag."

"You did this just now?" Part of Wilson wanted to shake the kid but he knew it wasn't his fault. The little guy just wanted to help.

"No." The little boy sniffed. "The other couple of days ago. I saw the one doctor coming so I ran away because I didn't want to get in trouble. Are you going to tell my mom?" The kid started to cry again.

Wilson sighed and rubbed his temples. "Caleb, playing with medication is a serious thing. You could make someone really sick."

"Did he get sick?" The little boy pointed at Greg.

Wilson nodded. "He did. He is going to be okay but…."

"I'm sorry!" The little boy started to cry harder.

"Wilson, are you making that kid cry?" Wilson heard Cuddy's shocked voice coming from behind him. "What's going on in here? Why is that kid in House's room?"

Wilson turned around sheepishly. "Apparently young Caleb here befriended our Greg a few days ago." House still hadn't looked up from the Gameboy. "He thought Greg had a headache so he brought him some of his mom's Tylenol to make his new friend feel better."

"That kid was the one who overdosed Greg on Tylenol?" She looked down at the crying child sharply. "Do you know how dangerous that is? There is a reason grown-ups don't want you touching that stuff. Let's go find your parents." With that Cuddy grabbed the boy by the arm and led him away.

"No you." Greg said cheerfully finally dropping the Gameboy and waving goodbye to Cuddy and Jimmy as they left the room. "Mine Wilson!"

"Hey buddy. I see you made a friend. Unfortunately I don't think you'll be seeing him for awhile." Wilson sat down on the end of the bed. "I wonder if he was the one who let you out of your room the other day?"

"Dusty you." Greg motioned to the dog. He grabbed Wilson's hand and put it on Rusty's head. "Mine Wilson. Mine Dusty."

Wilson smiled. "I can tell you are feeling okay today. Do want some lunch?"

"Nom." House started to toy absentmindedly with his teddy bear's lab coat. "Lisa." Wilson hastily got up and shoved the small camera that linked to the monitor upstairs in his pocket.

"Hi Greg." Cuddy gave House a quick smile. She turned to Wilson. "Well that little guy is in a lot of trouble. I don't think we will be seeing him wandering around any time soon. I gave his parents an earful too. How's Greg? Foreman told me yesterday you were getting him into some kind of music therapy? When's that going to start?"

Wilson winced. He had totally forgotten about telling Foreman he was planning to put Greg into some kind of therapy class. "Err….well I haven't…."

"I knew it! You were just bullshitting Foreman to get him off your case!" Cuddy shook her head. "Luckily for you I just happened to pick up a few fliers for you to look at." She handed Wilson a stack of papers. "I better not see you wadding these up and tossing them into the trash like House used to do with all the rehab pamphlets I used to leave on his desk."

Wilson laughed. "You were the one doing that? I always thought it was Cameron."

"Well I can't believe it was some kid who gave Greg that medication. I thought for sure it was Thirteen. I was just waiting to catch her in the act."

"You thought it was Thirteen but you didn't fire here?"

"I can't fire people without proof! Anyway she still isn't off the hook. She is my top suspect for letting Greg out of his room the other day."

"Are you sure it wasn't that kid?"

"No, I asked the parents and he was in school that day."

"Chase thinks House just wandered off."

"Well, I'm sure Chase thinks a lot of things." Cuddy replied sarcastically. "But I know House didn't tie that dog to the bed. He got mad when I kicked it off the bed. He wouldn't leave his room without it."

"It?" Wilson raised an eyebrow.

"Rusty." Cuddy amended. The dog raised its head and wagged his tail. "I have to admit he's growing on me. Even if he does need a bath."

"And has fleas?" Wilson asked remembering a comment Chase had made the other day.

"Oh, go home and take a shower. If anyone has fleas around here it's you. And look over those music therapy fliers too."

Wilson quickly glanced over one of the fliers at he headed to his car. Maybe this would be a good thing for House.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer here and enjoy =D **

"Are you sure he's ready?" Wilson asked cautiously as he dressed House in jeans and a t-shirt.

"We've been over the bloodwork a half dozen times." Foreman reassured. "You are going to have to bring him back in for a checkup in the next couple of days but he is good to go home. Even with all of the, shall we say technical difficulties, the antibiotics did their thing. No more infection, no more strep. I thought you'd be glad to be getting out of here. Or are you going to miss the free babysitting?"

"I just don't want him to get sick again." Wilson sighed as he slipped Greg's sneakers onto his friend's feet. "It will be nice to be back home in my own bed, though I am afraid of what the dishes in the sink are going to look like."

Foreman laughed. "You need to hire a housekeeper….and a House keeper."

"Cuddy is still trying to find someone to watch him while I'm at work. He has his first music therapy class today though. That should be interesting. Are you ready to go home Greg?"

"No." House said happily as he slid off the bed. "House."

"That's right. We're going home. Grab your bear unless you want to leave him here."

"No mine!" House exclaimed as he snatched the teddy bear off the bed. He headed for the door with Rusty close at his heels. He paused. "No! Bad!"

"What's the matter buddy?" Wilson looked out the doorway as House scrambled to hide behind him.

"Going home I see." Thirteen said coolly from the hallway. "Foreman are you ready for lunch?"

"Umm, just give me a minute. See you later Dr. Wilson."

"Later." Wilson noticed that Greg gripped his hand a little tighter when they were forced to pass Thirteen. "You don't like Dr. Hadley?" Wilson asked as he buckled House into the car.

"Bad. No mine Dusty. Bad." House said turning his head away from Wilson. Wilson couldn't put his finger on it but he was sure he had heard House say this exact string of words only a few days ago.

By the time they had reached the building where the music therapy class was held Wilson had already forgotten about Greg's strange outburst in the car. He was nervous about leaving House alone for a whole half hour with a complete stranger, which the oncologist found odd seeing as less than a year before he had abandoned Greg to live in a whole building full of strangers for almost four months without even visiting. Taking House's hand he led him through the double doors into a room that reminded Wilson of a preschool.

"Welcome Dr. Wilson, Gregory. I'm Dr. Hansen." The friendly looking women reminded Wilson of someone you would see at a Woodstock revival with her long braided grey hair and flowing skirt. He wondered what she had her doctorate in.

"He just got out of the hospital so he might be a little tired. You can call me if there are any problems….I know I talked to your receptionist on the phone about his special needs but…"

"Relax Dr. Wilson." Dr. Hansen replied calmly. "Most of my patients here have special needs of some kind. If I have any concerns I will be sure to call you. Is that your dog you have with you Gregory?"

House had been scanning the room with great interest as he gripped tightly to Wilson hand with one hand and held Rusty's leash loosely in the other. "Mine Dusty." House replied quietly.

"Dusty. That's a wonderful name. I have a dog named Hazel at home. Are you ready to try some music?" House's eyes fixed on a piano in the corner. He dropped Wilson's hand and eagerly started across the room. "It looks like he is ready for you to go now Dr. Wilson. We'll see you in a half hour." Dr. Hansen gave Wilson a reassuring smile.

Wilson spent the next half hour trying to distract himself at home by tiding up the house. He kept waiting for the phone to ring but the house was silent. He made Greg's bed and threw all of the dirty clothes that had accumulated during House's hospital stay into the washer. He did the dishes and even fluffed Rusty's dog bed. He looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes to go. He decided it wouldn't hurt to pick up Greg a little early and hoped into the car.

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"You didn't tell me that Gregory was such a lovely piano player." Dr. Hansen smiled as Wilson walked through the door. House sat on the floor banging a plastic tambourine against the side of the table.

"Greg played the piano?" Wilson gawked at the women. "He really played it?"

"He was quite good. He got bored so we moved on to something else."

"But he actually played it? A real song?" Wilson was in shock.

"Did he not know how to play before?"

"No. I mean he did play before his accident…before the brain damage but I never thought…I mean….he remembers a lot of things but I didn't think he would remember the piano."

"I have seen cases like this before." Dr. Hansen said a little sadly. "If I remember right you friend had a case similar to this one only his patient's trauma happened when he was a little boy?"

"You studied up on Greg's past cases?"

"I had heard of Dr. Gregory House before. When I found out he was going to be one of my patients I decided to get a little more background on him. Many of his cases were fascinating. I was a private practice physician for many years before I retired and got into music therapy."

"Wow." Wilson replied, clearly impressed. "House's former patient suffered from head trauma….Greg's damage was caused by lack of oxygen to the brain."

"Well, he is a very talented pianist and we had a good time today. That little dog of his is a joy too. Will we be seeing the two of them again next week?"

Wilson nodded. "Do you think he would enjoy having a piano at home? I wouldn't want to hurt his therapy at all."

"No, I think at is a lovely idea." The women smiled at Wilson. "I bet both of you would enjoy it."

"Come on Greg. Time to go home." Wilson put out his hand.

"NO!" Greg threw the tambourine on the floor. "No house."

Dr. Hansen quietly walked over to Greg and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Come on Gregory. Time to go now." She said in a quiet, even tone. "Dr. Wilson is waiting for you. You missed him when he left you here, remember."

"Mine Wilson." House agreed. "Mine Dusty!" The little dog got up off an over sized pillow he had been napping on and followed House over to Wilson. House took Wilson's hand and laid his head on his shoulder. "Nom."

"I'll make you lunch when we get home. Say by to Dr. Hansen."

"No you." House smiled as he waved goodbye. As Wilson buckled House back into the car an idea was forming in his head. He just hoped he was right.


	30. Chapter 30

**Wow, 30 chapters already.....watch out for the last part of this chapter. It might make you hungry of Italian food (it sure did for me! Now I want to go to Olive Garden!) Thank you for all of the awesome reviews that have kept me motivated to keep writing this fic! You guys are awesome =D Disclaimer here and hopefully enjoy!**

"Nom?" House asked desperately as Wilson sped towards PPTH. Ignoring his friend's pleas Wilson zipped into a parking space, nearly hitting the car in front of him in the process. He wanted to talk to Foreman and his team while his idea was still fresh in his mind.

"Come on." Wilson unbuckled Greg and grabbed him roughly by the arm. House barely had time to grab his teddy bear before Wilson was dragging him across the parking lot. Poor Rusty with his short little legs tried valiantly to keep up and was nearly ran over by several cars as he finally made it to his owner's side.

"Mine Dusty!" House cried as he wanted his furry friend narrowly dodge a sports car that was backing out of a parking space. "Mine Dusty." Rusty wagged he tail as if to tell House he was alright.

"Come on Greg." Wilson didn't notice people staring as he pulled House through the lobby into an elevator and finally to Foreman's office. Wilson rolled his eyes when he saw the little sticky note that read _out to lunch_ on the glass. He yanked House into another elevator and finally down to the cafeteria.

"What's going on?" Chase asked as he spotted Wilson and House. The Aussie sat with Cameron, Foreman and Thirteen at a table drinking coffee. "Is House okay?"

"Noooo!" House whined. "Nom!"

"Here sweetie." Cameron stood up. "I think they still have frozen yogurt." She turned to Wilson. "Is it okay if I take him through the line?"

"Yeah, sure." He waved a dismissive hand at Cameron as he took a seat at the table. "I need to talk to you guys about House. I took him to that music class. He can play the piano." Wilson stared at the group, waiting for them to react.

"That's great." Chase took a sip of his coffee.

"No, that's more than great! Don't you get it? We can fix him!"

Chase took a deep breath. "I was worried something like this was going to happen. Dr. Wilson, I know you miss your friend but lots of people with brain injuries remember how to do things you wouldn't expect them to. …"

"House had this patient, this guy who could play the piano…"

"I remember that case." Foreman interjected. "The only thing that guy and House have in common is the piano. I went over all of his tests myself. I even faxed them to some of the best neurologists in the country. We all came to the same conclusion. Nothing can be done."

Chase nodded in agreement. "I know this is hard but you are going to have to except the fact that…"

"I had another idea." Wilson interrupted nervously. "You got House to remember what happened the night of the bus crash that killed Amber by…."

"You want to dig around in House's brain?!" Cameron said in outrage as she and Greg returned to the table. House shied away at the sudden loud outburst. Rusty moved protectively closer to his leg.

"Oh hell no!" Chase stood up. Everyone in the cafeteria was staring at their table now. "There is no way that I or anyone else at this table is letting that happen!"

"I think it's a good idea." Thirteen said quietly. "If Wilson wants to try to…"

"Oh shut up." Cameron snapped. "If Wilson wanted to cut House's head off you would say it was a great idea and would be all for it." Thirteen stood up to face Cameron.

"Will you guys sit down?" Foreman snapped. "You're all acting like a bunch of psychos and you're scaring Greg." House stood behind Cameron gripping onto his cup of frozen yogurt and crying.

"Sorry." Cameron said quietly as she sat down. Thirteen rolled her eyes and took a seat.

"I don't want to hurt him." Wilson said quietly. "I just thought…"

"I know you don't want to hurt him." Chase said softly as he sat back down. House nervously took a seat between Wilson and Cameron. "But messing with his brain will do more harm than good. The best you could hope for is bringing up some old memories….House won't be able to deal with those. Just think if you made him remember that bus crash or the night Amber died. It would be horrible."

"We could do some new scans and tests…" Wilson said hopefully.

"We could." Foreman replied. "But all you will do is scare him. Just think of how scared he was when he was here. Do you really want to put him through that again?"

"Why not?" Thirteen asked. "He freaks out if people are yelling. Why not so if there is a chance…?"

"Will you shut up?" Cameron hissed. "All you are doing is giving Wilson false hope." She turned to Wilson. "I know how much you care about House. The best you can do is keep caring for him like you have been."

"I just want some hope." Wilson said sadly as he got up. "Come on Greg. Let's go."

"Mine!" House whined as Wilson pulled him away from the table. Neither Wilson nor Rusty noticed House's teddy bear lying on the tile near the chair he had been sitting in. Rusty tried to hop up on the table to grab the cup of frozen yogurt but Wilson grabbed him roughly by the collar and snapped on his leash.

"I'll make you lunch when we get home. Let's go."

"Mine!" House wailed as Wilson pulled him towards the cafeteria door. Cameron started to stand up but Chase put out a hand to stop her.

House cried all the way home. By the time they reached the house Wilson's patients had grown thin. He stomped into the kitchen, threw to together a peanut butter sandwich and slammed in on the coffee table in front of House. "Here. Lunch. Just like I promised."

"Mine!" House cried.

"Why are you crying over that stupid yogurt? I'll get you some more tomorrow. Just stop crying."

"Mine!" House continued to cry. Rusty put his head in House's lap.

"Do you want something to cry about? How about the fact that your brain is damaged and you'll never be the same again? How about the fact that your former teams think I am a heartless bastard for wanting to fix you? Now there is something to cry about!"

House shrunk back at Wilson's harsh tone of voice. "Mine." He sniffed.

"I'm sorry." Wilson sat down next to House. "I was just so hopeful you know?" House looked at him with tear filled eyes. "Of course you don't. I might as well be talking to the dog."

House looked around the couch then back at Wilson. "MINE!" he shrieked at the top of his lungs.

Wilson stood up. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I left you damn frozen yogurt! It's gone okay? It's not coming back. It's probably in the trash by now. Get over it." He grabbed House's arm and hauled him into the kitchen. "See all of this food in here. Pick something."House struggled his way out of Wilson's grip and limped back into the living room. Wilson slowly sunk down to the floor and put his head in his hands. "Oh House. I'm so sorry." He whispered to himself. "I shouldn't have let myself get my hopes up."

"Dr. Wilson?" Cameron's voice came from the living room. "I think you forgot something."

"Mine!" Wilson walked into the living room just in time to see a joyful House grab his teddy bear from Cameron's hands. "Mine Cammie!"

Cameron gave her former boss a quick hug. "Are you okay?"

Wilson nodded. "Yeah I just….I really thought I had figured it out. I thought I had solved the puzzle." Wilson sat down on the couch. "It's not that I mind taking care of him anymore. It's just….when I heard that he could play the piano I started thinking what it would be like to have my old friend back."

Cameron took a seat next to Wilson. "I'm sorry. Chase feels bad for yelling at you. So do I. We both know how hard this must be. But did you really think that poking around in his brain would fix him?"

Wilson kicked the side of the couch. "Maybe. I don't know." He said sadly. "I don't know anymore."

"It's going to be okay." Cameron gave Wilson a small hug. "I have to get back to work. Call any of us if you need anything…except Thirteen of course." She gave Wilson a small smile. "I'm starting to think she is the one who deserved the name Cutthroat Bitch."

Wilson smiled back. "I have to admit when you said the thing about her agreeing to cut House's head off I almost started laughing. I'll see you later Cameron."

"No you." House said happily waving at Cameron.

"No me?" Cameron smiled down at House. "Why no me?"

"No you." House repeated cheerfully, this time grabbing Rusty's paw and waving it at Cameron.

"It's his version of goodbye." Wilson explained.

"Oh...Okay. No you Greg." Cameron quietly shut the door behind her.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice your bear was missing buddy." Wilson got up sat on the floor next to his friend. "We still need to learn to communicate a little better huh? Are you still hungry?"

House leaned over and put his head on Wilson's shoulder. "Nom."

"Why don't we go out to dinner? It's been a weird day; I think we could both use a little fun and a nice dinner. We could ask Dr. Cuddy if she wants to come. I owe her a dinner."

"Mine nom!" House said excitedly. "Yay!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Wilson picked up his cell phone and started to dial.

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"You wanted to dig around in his brain." Cuddy shook her head as she took a seat at the table. She looked up at the waiter who was giving her a curious glance. "Can I have a glass of water please?"

"I know, I know. It was stupid. Can I have a coke, chocolate milk in a kid's cup and can you bring us a kid's menu too please?"

"We don't usually…" The waiter started.

"My friend has special needs. Say hi to the waiter Greg."

"Nom." House smiled up at the waiter.

"Oh, sorry." The waiter scrambled off to get their order.

"That was kind of cruel wasn't it?" Cuddy raised an eyebrow at Wilson.

"What? Having Greg say hi to the waiter? He needs a kid's cup. What was I supposed to do? Wait for someone to fax over a medical history?" Wilson turned to House. "Quit playing with the table cloth. Here look, crayons." Wilson shoved the cup of crayons and little paper coloring book over to his friend. "Color the talking tomato."

Cuddy shrugged. "I guess. But you wanting to dig around in his brain? That isn't just stupid, that's insane! What were you hoping to accomplish? Give him more brain damage?"

Wilson sighed. "I don't know. I was just hoping that him being able to play the piano meant something."

"Yeah. It means he can play the piano. I thought we finally made it through all of the steps of grief and were finally at acceptance. You just took a huge step back all the way to denial."

"I know I just….Greg color with the crayon, don't eat it!" Wilson reached across the table and pulled the crayon from Greg's mouth. "No. Yuck."

"Um..here are your drinks and the kid's menu." The waiter was visibly uncomfortable. "I'll be back in a bit to take your orders."

"Thanks. Can you take these away?" Wilson handed the waiter the cup of crayons.

"No! Mine!" House whined and reached for the cup.

"Look Greg. Here's your cup." Cuddy quickly distracted the older man with the plastic lidded cup. "Look at the neat straw." House forgot about the crayons and happily took the cup. "Look James, I know you miss….well how he used to be. I do too…and believe me I never thought I would miss that. Ever. But if you are ever going to move on in your life you just have to except what has happened and move on. Don't become my next doctor who comes up with harebrained schemes to fix obviously incurable patients. I can't handle that. And I seriously doubt you'll have House's luck at it either."

Wilson laughed a little. "I'm starting to doubt I have any sort of luck at all. Speaking of which, have you had any luck finding someone to watch House? I'm almost caught up on my patient files."

"I actually had a promising interview today. I was about to call you when Chase came bursting into my office screaming about how you had gone nuts and wanted him to drill into House's skull."

"Are you ready to order?" The waiter looked a bit afraid now.

"Umm….I'll have the sausage and rigatoni with marinara, my friend here will have the ravioli off of the kids menu with very minimal white sauce. And salads with both of those."

"I'll have the Chicken Caesar Salad, light on the dressing." The waiter nodded and quickly scooted off to the kitchen.

"Really? When do I get to meet this person? Greg! Leave the table cloth alone. Drink your milk."

"Nom." House whined.

"It will be here soon, sweetie." Cuddy reassured. "I was going to ask if tomorrow is okay."

"Yeah, sure. Greg no. Leave that vase alone. You're going to knock it over. Maybe bringing him out to dinner was a bad idea."

"Why do you think I left Rachel with a sitter?" Cuddy smiled.

"Rachel is a baby. Greg is….no! Here look. Here comes your food." Wilson looked over at Cuddy. "Thank god this place is so quick."

"Yeah, thank god." She motioned over to Greg who had already gotten sauce down the front of his shirt.

Wilson sighed. "Do you mind if we get this to go and take it back to one of our places?"

"Not at all. I think we are scaring our waiter."

"Should we tell him we're doctors?" Wilson asked as he tried to wipe the sauce from House's shirt.

Cuddy shook her head and snorted. "Somehow I doubt he would believe us."

**author's note: Hungry for Italian food yet? =P**


	31. Chapter 31

**Sorry it had taken me so long to update this time! Life, the universe and anxiously awaited new House episodes have all gotten in the way and eaten up my time. I was a little drowsy (thank you Benedryl & dust for that one) when I wrote this...hopefully it is still worth the wait and spelling/grammar hasn't suffered too much. As a side note because Kutner is no longer on the show I wrote him out of this fic. I figure enough depressing things have happened in this story without him dying so I just had him leave. Hope that is okay with everyone. So without anything further here is chap. 31! Hope you enjoy! =D**

"Come on buddy. We need to get moving." Wilson hastily grabbed a shirt from House's dresser and stuffed his friend into it. House gave Wilson a dirty look and ambled into the living room. "I know you aren't used to getting up this early." Wilson apologized as House flopped down on the couch. "But I have to go to work."

House rubbed his eyes and grabbed the remote. "No."

"Unfortunately, yes." Wilson hurried into the kitchen and poured House a bowl of cereal. "You stay put okay? I have to take a shower and get dressed." House seemed too engrossed in Lucky Charms and Sponge Bob to notice that Wilson was even in the room. Taking this as a good sign the oncologist rushed into bathroom and started the shower. The moment the warm water hit his back Wilson heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen.

"Wilson!"

"Crap." Quickly wrapping a towel around his waist the brown eyed doctor rushed into the kitchen. "Oh Greg!" House stood there in tears, a broken pickle jar at his feet. "You don't even like pickles!"

"No." House agreed tearfully. He held out his hand to show Wilson a small cut on his palm. "Ouch."

Wilson sighed. "Come here." He led his sniffling friend over to the sink and quickly cleaned and bandaged the small wound. "All better?" House nodded as Wilson gave him a hug. He looked up at the clock as he cleaned up the broken glass. "Perfect. Now I don't even have time to take a shower. Let's go." Quickly throwing on clothes while House was distracted by the new band-aid on his hand Wilson hurriedly shoved a bunch of House's stuff into his backpack, clipped Rusty to a leash and loaded House and dog into the car.

"Mine Cammie!" House pointed excitedly as he spotted Cameron walking across the hospital parking lot.

"We can talk to her later. We need to go meet your potential new babysitter. You better hope this works out or you get to spend the day sitting in my office." Wilson adjusted his tie as he pulled House into Cuddy's office. Rusty trotted dutifully behind them.

"She's late." Cuddy slammed a pile of files down on her desk. "It figures. Leave it to me to find someone who can't even show up on time."

"Bad start to the day?" Wilson asked as he took a seat in front of Cuddy's desk. "I haven't seen you so flustered this early since House was working here."

"I'm sorry." Cuddy sighed. "It's Foreman. He thinks he is the new House. He fired Kutner this morning for no apparent reason. Now he is demanding that I bring Cameron up from the ER to help his team. Of course Cameron refuses to work with them because she doesn't want to…."

"Sounds like a rough start." Wilson cut off his boss. "But I think our appointment is here." He motioned to a young woman in the hallway. "Is that her?"

"Dr. Cuddy? Dr. Wilson?" The girl hesitatingly walked into the office. She didn't look a day over eighteen.

"Can you wait in the hall?" Wilson asked politely. The girl nodded and scurried out the door. He turned to Cuddy. "That is not going to work."

"What? Why not? You haven't even spoken to her yet!"

"Believe me, I've seen enough. House will trample that girl. She's too young and too nervous. We need someone…."

"Excuse me? I think you lost something?" A blond women in her mid thirties led House in by the arm. Rusty followed closely behind, happily wagging his tail.

"I'm so sorry. He wasn't…." Wilson started.

The women laughed. "It's fine. He was just outside the door. My name is Jennie. I have an appointment with Dr. Cuddy about a job watching…"

"Perfect timing." Cuddy smiled. "Have a seat. This is Dr. Wilson and the person who you have by the arm would be Greg."

"I kind of guessed. I figured you wouldn't have any doctors here who would be out in the hall playing in a water fountain." Jennie smiled as she let go of House's arm. "The service dog trailing at his ankles was kind of a giveaway too."

"Can you give me a second?" Cuddy asked picking up her phone. Jennie quickly nodded as she watched House settle down on the floor near Wilson's feet, pulling his teddy bear out of his backpack. "Jacob will you tell my first appointment that I will get back to her later...She's in the hall……Thanks." Cuddy hung up the phone. "Sorry about that. So." She dug through some files on her desk. "We talked on the phone. You have…."

"Been doing this for about ten years now. Well actually I started out working with disabled adults, then moved on to working with disabled kids, but now I do a little of both. I brought some references." Jennie held out a paper to Dr. Cuddy. "And I can start whenever you need me to."

"Perfect." Cuddy smiled. "Wilson do you have any questions?"

"Um…" Wilson cleared his throat.

"Dr. Wilson." Jennie said confidently. "I know you are probably nervous about leaving your friend here with a stranger. Dr. Cuddy told me you have pretty much taken this on alone and have been home with Greg for awhile now. We talked all about his special needs and…." Just then House stood up, wandered over to Jennie and dropped his teddy bear in her lap. "Thanks sweetie. Anyway as I was saying…"

Wilson looked down at his watch. "I have a patient meeting in ten minutes. Why don't I show you upstairs to Greg's playroom? You two can get to know each other and…."

"I'll take her up." Cuddy said sharply. "We can finish the interview up there."

"Okay." Wilson said sounding a bit perplexed. "Greg, come give me a hug. Be good okay?" Freeing himself from House's death grip Wilson made his way into his office. After a few meetings with various patients he looked up to see Cuddy standing in front of his desk. "Can I help you?"

"You were just going to leave House alone with that woman? I thought you were all nervous about finding the perfect person? You sure rejected that other girl quickly enough."

"She seemed nice." Wilson said as he signed a few papers. "And House seemed to like her."

"Oh because we all know what a good judge of character people with brain damage are." Cuddy said sarcastically. "Maybe we should sign Greg up for jury duty."

Wilson sighed. "I'm sorry Lisa. You know I care about who watches him. I'm nervous as hell about leaving him with a stranger. I just thought spending time with Greg…"

"I know." Cuddy said a little more gently. "I just worry about someone taking advantage of him."

"I'm more worried about that poor woman." Wilson gave a small laugh. "He can be a handful. He broke a jar of pickles this morning when I was in the shower…he gets into everything. He has managed to give the slip to two separate people who were supposed to be watching him…."

Cuddy shook her head. "Well she has great references and you are right about House seeming to like her. I'm having her stay the rest of the day with Greg and we'll see how it goes. She can only stay till three so I told her to drop Greg off in here when she has to leave."

"I'll go check in on them at lunch." Wilson went back to filling out paperwork as Cuddy made her exit. Time inched by as Wilson worried how House was reacting to the new situation. It seemed like ages before his lunch break arrived and he made his way down the hall to House's playroom. He felt guilty for not being the one to drop House off on his first day there. He hoped Greg hadn't been too frightened when Cuddy left. Wilson slowly pushed open the door and was greeted by a happy Rusty and a smiling House.

"Mine Wilson." House grinned as he held up his painted covered hands. He sat at the table in the middle of the room with various jars of paint and paint splotched paper in front of him.

"It looks liked you've been busy." Wilson studied House's paint covered blue polo shirt and jeans.

"It's washable." Jennie reassured as she grabbed House's arm just in time to keep him from wrapping Wilson in a paint covered hug. "I'll get him cleaned up for you."

"Thanks." Wilson sat down uncertainly in one of the bean bag chairs as Jennie led House into the small bathroom off of the playroom to wash his hands. "So, how's it going?"

"Great. No problems at all. Right Greg?"

"Red." House declared as he emerged from the bathroom. He pointed at Rusty. "Red Dusty."

"You might want to give Dusty a bath when you get home." Jennie explained. "Greg got a little paint on his ear. We've been trying to work on colors but so far everything is either no or red."

Wilson smiled at House. "Well red is a new one but don't be too surprised if he doesn't pick up on the others. He tends to repeat words randomly. I don't even think he understands their meaning half of the time. Are you ready for lunch buddy?"

"Nom!" House said excitedly. He hobbled over and grabbed Wilson's hand.

"He seemed to understand that just fine." Jennie pointed out.

Wilson raised an eyebrow. "Well we'll see you when we get back from lunch."

"I'll be here." Jennie smiled.

"Dusty red." House repeated as he followed Wilson out the door.

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"I don't think it's going to work." Wilson declared as he barged into Cuddy's office.

"What? What's wrong with this one?" Cuddy looked up from her computer. "Do you know of anyone who would be willing to work with Foreman or cover for Cameron in the ER? I bet I can get Cameron up there if I offer her a bonus."

"I don't think bribing will fly with the board of directors or Cameron." Wilson sighed. "And she is too bossy. She's trying to train Greg like he is some kind of preschool kid and…"

"Train him?" Cuddy raised an eyebrow. "She has him shaking hands for dog treats?"

"She was teaching him colors." Wilson said shortly. "She didn't even ask me if it was okay."

"Well heaven forbid." Cuddy replied sarcastically. "The next thing you know she'll be teaching him how to count without consulting the president. Will you relax? I'm sure she was just trying to keep him busy."

"I don't know." Wilson said nervously. "I just worry…"

"So he learns a few new words. Or he doesn't. Go back to your office and do your job. I'm keeping an eye on her." Cuddy motioned to a monitor on her desk. "You didn't think I would just leave them alone did you? I have one for Rachel at home too."

"Thanks Lisa." Wilson relaxed a little.

"I'm surprised you didn't set one up yourself. You weren't exactly sneaky about the camera you put in House's hospital room." Wilson's eyes grew wide. "Relax. If I was going to turn you in I would have done it ages ago. Now get back to work. I waste enough money around this place paying doctors to stand around. I don't need you starting that on me too."

Wilson smiled to himself as he got into the elevator and headed back towards his office.

**Thank you lhoma320 for helping correct all of my spelling and grammar mistakes in this chapter!!!! =D**


	32. Chapter 32

**Since it took me so long to update I decided I better post two chapters. =) Hopefully enjoy!**

Wilson looked at his watch. It was almost three and Jennie had still not dropped off House at his office. Just when Wilson was starting to worry a little the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hi Dr. Wilson. It's Jennie. I took Greg down to the main playroom in pediatrics and ran into a Dr…oh now I can't remember her name. Anyway, she said she would watch Greg until you go off work. Is that okay with you?"

"It was probably Dr. Cameron. And yes that's fine. Tell her to leave Greg with Dr. Cuddy whenever she is ready to go home." Wilson mentally kicked himself. He had forgotten to ask Lisa if she could watch Greg while he attended a counseling meeting that night. He had already missed two of them while Greg was in the hospital.

"Sorry about getting paint on his clothes…"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it will wash out. See you tomorrow?"

"I'm supposed to sit down and talk with you and Dr. Cuddy tomorrow morning. I guess she hasn't informed you of that yet." Jennie laughed.

"No she hasn't. But I guess I will see you tomorrow morning." Wilson politely said his goodbyes and hung up the phone. He quickly dialed Cuddy's number. "Lisa, I'm an idiot."

"Tell me something I don't know." A bored voice came from the other line. "Do you think offering Cameron extra vacation time counts as bribing?"

"Thanks." Wilson said sheepishly. "I forgot to ask if you can watch House tonight. I have a counseling meeting at…"

"That's fine. Just drop him off with my secretary on your way out. I pay Jacob enough; he might as well do something useful around here for once."

"Thanks." Wilson said feeling relieved. "I'll be by your place to pick him up around eight." Wilson felt guilty for passing House around so much in one day but he really didn't want to miss another counseling meeting. The last thing House needed was for his caretaker to buckle under the stress and start drinking again. Suddenly there was a soft tap at the door. "It's open."

"Sorry to interrupt Dr. Wilson." Jennie held Rusty on his leash. "Dr…"

"Cameron?"

"Yes. Cameron. I am so bad with names. Anyway, she didn't want Rusty downstairs so I thought I'd leave him with you. Is that okay?"

"That's fine." Wilson nodded. "Probably not the best idea to have him downstairs without his vest on. I forgot it at home. This morning was kind of a disaster."

"See you tomorrow." Wilson nodded as he got back to work. The time crept by until it was time for Wilson to head to his meeting. He thought about dropping by Cuddy's office to say goodbye to House on his way out but decided he didn't want to make poor Jacob have to deal with the resulting temper tantrum from House that his visit would probably result in. Cuddy didn't pay the kid enough for that. He quietly made his way out the back door, careful not to pass by Cuddy's office.

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"So how was he?" Wilson looked around Cuddy's living room expecting to see House sitting somewhere playing his Gameboy or watching TV.

"Asleep." Cuddy answered. "He actually wandered up to Jacob and past out in the entrance to my office. He slept all the way here. I couldn't even get him up to eat dinner."

"Is he okay?" Wilson asked a bit alarmed. "He isn't running a fever is he?"

Cuddy shook her head. "You really need to learn to relax James. You are going to give yourself a heart attack one of these days. No fever, no cough, no ouch. He's probably just tuckered out after such a busy day. It was the first time he spent most of the day away from you; he was in a new room, met new people. That is a lot for someone with the mind of a four year old."

Wilson tried to relax. "That would have been a lot for House before. I don't think he could have handled being in a new room and meeting new people all in the same day."

"Only if the room was stocked with beer and the people were sick with a rare illness that only he could figure out."

Wilson laughed. "Sounds like half of the bars House used to visit. Speaking of Greg, where is he?"

"I tucked him into the guest bed. He almost rolled off of the couch and I didn't want him to split his head open. The last thing I needed was both him and Rachel screaming. I just got her to sleep a few minutes ago."

"I'll be sure to be quiet." Wilson tip-toed into the guestroom where he found Greg snoozing with his arms wrapped tightly around Rusty's neck. Wilson could see the large splotch of red paint on Rusty's left ear. "Hey buddy, it's me. Time to wake up."

"Mmmph." Greg slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey buddy." Wilson sat down on the edge of the bed. "Time to go home. Are you feeling okay?" House scooted over in the bed and sat up to give Wilson a hug. "Ready to go home?"

"Mnnn." House whined as Wilson got him to stand up. He fell back on the bed as Wilson grabbed his shoes from next to the nightstand. His blue eyes looked a bit cloudy as he looked up at his friend.

Wilson quickly put a hand to House's forehead. "You aren't warm. You're just sleepy. We'll get you home, have dinner and you can go right back to bed. Big day huh?" House didn't respond. Trying to get him out to the car was like moving a ton of bricks. "I've never seen him this tired before."

"He's worn out." Cuddy agreed.

"It's kind of scaring me. It reminds me of when he used to shoot morphine before this all happened."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Will you quit worrying? He's fine. He's just tired. Get him home and tuck him into bed."

"You're right. I'm probably just tired too." Wilson agreed. "I worried about him all day."

"It will get easier." Cuddy reassured. "I was a nervous wreck the first time I had to leave Rachel. Now I miss her when I'm at work but I can do my job without obsessing over it every five minutes. Okay, I sometimes worry about her if I have to leave when she is sick or has been really grumpy or…well, it will get easier."

"Thanks Lisa. See you tomorrow." Wilson got in the car and looked over at Greg. He was already fast to sleep again with Rusty curled up at his feet, arms wrapped tightly around his teddy bear. "Let's get you home buddy."

House didn't stir once one the way home. It took all of Wilson's strength to get the sleeping man from the car into the house. As Wilson tucked his friend into bed he noticed he was shivering in his sleep. "Mnnph." House moaned, still fast to sleep.

"Greg?" Wilson tried to gently shake the other man awake but got no response. "You must be really exhausted." Wilson went to the closet and got some extra blankets to put over his friend. "I'll come wake you for dinner in a little bit." The only reply came from a whining Rusty at the end of the bed.

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"Come on Greg. I know it's late but I don't want you to go to bed without dinner." Wilson tried again to shake House awake. This time Greg lifted his head and stared at Wilson with glassy blue eyes. "Let's go out into the living room."

"Mnn." House slid out of bed and onto the floor. He looked up at Wilson with a glazed over expression and tugged at the pajama bottoms Wilson had changed him into before tucking him into bed earlier.

"Did you have an accident?" Wilson asked, his voice full of concern. "You've been doing so good." He sat down on the floor next to Greg. "Are you okay?"

House let out another whimper and leaned over to bury his face in Wilson shoulder. "Mnn."

Wilson took a deep breath, trying not to panic. He told himself that Greg was just really tired as he led his semi conscious friend into the bathroom. House slumped against back of the toilet seat as Wilson sat him down to change him into a fresh undergarment. "Do you want dinner?" Wilson tried to keep his voice upbeat as guided House back into the hall.

House shivered again and shook his head. "Nmm."

"I really want you to eat something. Let's just try a little bit okay?" House curled into a ball on the couch as Wilson headed into the kitchen and quickly returned with small bowl of Lucky Charms in milk. He tried to hand House the spoon but the older man just let it drop to his lap. "One little bite?"

"Nnnn." House whined as Wilson retrieved the spoon and tried again.

"Here." Wilson scooped up some cereal in the spoon and held it to House's lips. House shivered and coughed as he gulped down the small amount of cereal from the spoon. Wilson sighed and put down the bowl. "I'm going to have to take you back to the doctor if you aren't yourself by tomorrow." House just turned and buried his face in the back of the couch. "Fine. Back to bed. But no waking me up at three am because you're hungry."

House drowsily let Wilson tuck him back into bed and was instantly asleep the minute his head hit the pillow. Rusty gave a small whine and moved back onto the bed from his dog bed in the corner. The sleeping man didn't even stir as the mattress dipped down a bit under the sudden added weight of the dog. Even after checking on his friend several times Wilson was still not convinced that House was really just tired but it was getting late and the younger man forced himself to turn off the hall light and crawled into bed.

The next morning he woke to the sound of the TV in the living room. House sat on the couch happily watching cartoon with Rusty and several stuffed animals by his side. He smiled up at Wilson "Nom?"

"Sure buddy. I'll get you some cereal." Wilson walked into the kitchen, still puzzled about the events of the night before.


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer here...I am posting three chapters in a row, just to warm you. I didn't want to leave this part of the storyline hanging. Thanks for all the great reviews so far and enjoy (hopefully) **

"Okay pal. We are actually going to be on time today." Wilson smiled as he led House out to the car.

"No." House said softly as he reluctantly allowed Wilson to help him into the passenger seat. He gave a small shiver a Wilson secured his seat belt. Rusty gave a low whine and quickly jumped into the car, putting his head on House's lap.

"Are you okay?" Wilson was still worried about House's strange behavior last evening. He put a hand on his friend's forehead. "You're not warm. Do want your coat?" House didn't respond. He curled up as tightly as the seatbelt would allow him to and pressed his face against the passenger window. Wilson studied his friend closely for a second. "Are you okay buddy?"

"No." The muffled voice came from the upset passenger. He shivered again and reached out to latch onto Rusty's collar.

Wilson sighed as he got in and started the car. "We'll see if Dr. Cameron has time to give you a check up later. God I hope you aren't sick again."

"Mine Cammie." House said into the window.

Traffic was light and Wilson and company reached the hospital in record time. As they pulled into the parking lot Wilson noted that House's shivering became more noticeable the closer they got to the hospital. By the time they were parked the look on his face had changed from sullen to scared. His blue eyes grew wide as Wilson went to unlatch his seatbelt and the hand on Rusty's collar turned into a death grip. "Greg?"

"No please." House's voice was soft. He sounded as if he were about to cry.

Wilson knelt down so he was eye level with House. "It's okay buddy. We're going straight home today. No meetings. No getting passed around. You can come hang out in my office for awhile if you want." House seemed unconvinced. "I'll tell you what. I'll take an early lunch and we'll go to the park. Just the two of us. How does that sound?" Wilson smiled hopefully.

House gave a hint of a smile and let Wilson help him out of the car but the closer they got to the building the tighter he gripped onto his friend's hand and Rusty's leash. "Dusty house." House whined as they approached Cuddy's office.

"Sorry Greg. Rusty is out of luck. But we'll take him with us to the park." Wilson tried to mask his worry with a reassuring smile. "Why don't you and Rusty go say hi to Lisa?"

Cuddy barely looked up as the trio entered her office. "Oh hi." She sat digging through a huge mound of paperwork on her desk. "You're early. Do you want to help sort through this mess? I'm looking for the original file from when House first hired Cameron. It should say…"

Wilson laughed. "Do you really think House kept that? He probably threw it out."

Cuddy gave an exasperated sigh. "I know. I'm desperate. I found someone to cover the ER but I can't convince Cameron…"

"Mine Cammie?" House asked quietly from where he sat shivering on a couch.

"Where's his jacket?" Cuddy pointed to House. "He's freezing."

"It's 65 degrees out! He's wearing a sweatshirt! He's not cold, he's scared. Something that happened yesterday really must have freaked him out."

"Are you still on that whole morphine kick from last night?" Cuddy rolled her eyes as she continued to dig through the paper. "He was just tired Wilson. Now he is cold because you didn't put a jacket on him. You really need to…"

"Am I interrupting something?" Cameron smiled as she came through the door. "Hi Greg!" House sat clutching Rusty's collar as if it were the only thing saving him from drowning. "Is he okay?"

"Wilson forgot his jacket. Will you please tell me how I can get you work with Foreman? I'm desperate here. Vacation time? A raise? Your own office?"

"Make someone else department head? I'm sorry Dr. Cuddy I just can't work for him." Cameron looked over at Wilson. "Are you okay?"

"He's just worrying…"

"I'm worried about…"

"Hey guys!" Jennie strolled into the office carrying a huge box. "Are you ready for more fun today Greg? I brought more art supplies." She looked over at Wilson. "And a smock to cover his shirt."

House scurried off of the couch and hid behind Wilson. Cameron raised an eyebrow at Cuddy. "Everything is okay?"

"It's fine." Cuddy said firmly. "Jennie will you please take Greg upstairs?"

"I'll take him." Cameron said quickly. "Come on Greg. Come on Rusty" House nervously hobbled over and took Cameron's hand with Rusty trailing close behind. "We'll see you later."

"Great." Cuddy sighed again as the door closed. "You let Cameron get away."

Wilson raised an eyebrow. "Let her get away?"

"Never mind. I'm sorry. I just have this huge mess to deal with." Cuddy waved her arms at the piles of papers on her desk. "Now I have you freaking out because you think someone dosed House with morphine and I just let him go upstairs with someone I haven't even done a final interview with."

"I'm not freaking out." Wilson replied. "I'm just a little worried. He isn't acting like himself." He paused and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. Maybe I am being a little over concerned."

"Yes. Now get upstairs and do your job." Cuddy snapped. "Or help me with this paperwork…or I don't know. Do something productive! And stop worrying. I still have a camera on that woman." Wilson nodded and headed for the door. "And if you see Cameron tell her to get her butt back down here."

"Sure thing." Wilson found himself biting a fingernail as he rode the elevator up to his office. "Great James, you're going back to habits you gave up when you were six." He mumbled to himself. "And now you're talking to yourself." He threw open the office door only to be faced with a familiar pair of green eyes and smiling face.

"Hi Dr. Wilson!" Caleb bounced up and down. "Are you my sister's doctor again?"

"Sit down son." Caleb's parents sat in the chairs in front of Wilson's desk. Caleb's father looked stern and a bit unfriendly. "We're sorry to be so early Dr. Wilson. My wife set the clock fast and I didn't realize it until we got into your office."

"It's fine." Wilson gave his trademark fake smile.

"Is Greg here?" Caleb asked excitedly. "He is so weird! I got a new game and I was hoping that he could help me beat it because it is really hard but he can't that is okay because I just wanted to say hi to him."

The little boy talked so fast it made Wilson's head spin. "Umm…He is down the hall but…"

"It's fine." Caleb's dad no sooner waved a dismissive hand then Cable was running out the door. "We here to discuss Kayla. Our daughter."

Wilson sat down at his desk and pulled Kayla's file. "It looks like she is still in remission. No side effects from the meds so far. Everything looks great."

"I want to start her in a playgroup." The mother spoke up quietly. "But Albert thinks…"

"I just think it is too dangerous. With all of those other kids she is bound to get sick. She is fine at home. There is no reason to risk exposing her to all of that. My wife seems to think that time alone is more…"

"Well." Wilson interrupted quickly. "In my professional opinion there is no reason she can't be around other children. But as her parents it is…."

"Excuse me, Dr Wilson?" Jennie popped her head in the door. "This little boy wandered into our room." She led Caleb in by the arm.

"Young Caleb is a sort of friend of Greg's." Wilson smiled sheepishly. "He just wanted to drop in and say hi."

"Can I talk to you in the hall?" Jennie asked urgently.

"I'm with a patient's family. Can it wait a minute?"

"Actually, I think we are done here." Caleb's dad said testily. "Anna, Caleb. Let's go. Thanks for your time Dr. Wilson."

Wilson waited until the family had left the room. "In the future I need you to knock before you come in. Some of my patients are very sick and …."

"That kid came in and gave Greg a video game to play." Jennie interrupted.

"Oh. That's no big deal. He has an X-box at home. He's actually quite good at it. He kicks my ass everything we play." Wilson gave a nervous laugh. "Is that what this about?"

"Mine Wilson?" A nervous voice came from the behind the door.

"Come in buddy." Wilson said gently. House limped in the room and threw his arm around his friend. It looked like he had been crying.

"I just don't think that those games are good for his progress. They waste space in his brain he could be…"

"Why was he crying?"

"I took the game away. He got upset and threw a fit so I made him stand in the corner."

"You made him stand in the corner?" Wilson kept his voice low but his tone borderline on outrage. "You made a 50 year old man stand in the corner?" House sniffed and wiped his face on Wilson shirt.

"Dr. Wilson, I know that you are Greg's caregiver. And I am sure that you are doing your best. But I also think…"

"You realize that he has a bad leg right?" Wilson interrupted furiously. "It hurts him to stand on it too long. He was terrified when we came to the hospital this morning. He…"

"You aren't helping him! He needs…"

"I'm taking him to lunch. " Wilson said shortly. "We'll be back in an hour. Come on Greg."

"She was right about you." Jennie said softly enough that Wilson couldn't hear.

House sniffled as he followed Wilson out into the hall. Rusty came trotting merrily around the corner and joined the pair in the elevator. "I'm sorry Greg. Maybe coming back to work was a bad idea."

"Bad." House sniffed as they stepped into the lobby.

"You're leaving?" Cuddy came flying out of her office.

"I'm taking an early lunch. I'm supposed to be on clinic duty. I'll be back and hour and make up my missing time next week."

"Do you have room for another passenger?" Cuddy asked hopefully.

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Wilson and Cuddy sat on a park bench watching House toss peanuts at a pair of squirrels. Every time a squirrel took the bait Rusty would chase the poor creature up a tree causing Greg to laugh hysterically at the plight of the fuzzy little beast. Rachel sat cooing contently in her stroller as she played with a set of plastic keys.

"Thanks for stopping to pick up Rachel. "Cuddy smiled. "I just had to get out of there."

"That bad?" Wilson asked. "At least you didn't piss off the family of a toddler with leukemia."

"You pissed off a patient's family?" Cuddy looked surprised. "What did you do? An impression of Foreman?"

Wilson shook his head. "House's babysitter came barging in when we were in the middle of discussing their daughter. The father got upset and they left. I don't know if it is going to work out with this woman."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "You don't think she dosed House with morphine? I had her on camera the entire time!"

Wilson shook his head. "No. It's just….I've finally gotten to a place where I can deal..okay mostly deal with everything that is going on. I'll admit I have my more crazy moments when I want to dig around in Greg's brain but over all I feel like I am handling things. Then people come along and tell me I'm doing this wrong, and I need to do this and I forgot his jacket. And I then I'm not so sure anymore. I want to think I'm doing the right thing for him…" Wilson paused and motioned at House who had given up on the squirrels and was now sitting pulling handfuls of grass out of the ground and arranging them into little piles. "but I am never sure. People constantly second guessing me doesn't help. At all."

Cuddy gave Wilson a soft smile and put a hand on his shoulder. "James, we all know that minus the whole brain thing, which was just plain idiotic, you are doing your best. And you are going to mess up sometimes. It's just part of… Greg no! Come back here sweetie. The bird doesn't to be petted!" House quickly ended his pursuit of a small duck and returned to his piles of grass. "What brought this up anyway? Did that babysitter say something?"

Wilson sighed. "She told me I was delaying Greg's progress by letting him play video games. And yesterday she was all over me for saying he probably doesn't understand the meaning of half the words he says. Progress? What progress? Is she planning on his starting school next year so hopefully he can make to Harvard when he grows up?"

"Listen James…"

"People are always telling me all I can do is keep him happy. He's obviously happy." House laughed as Rusty rolled around in the grass in front of him.

"You're doing fine. You just need to relax. Quit trying to be perfect and quit blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong. And if you do make a mistake just learn from it and move on. I had to learn to do that with Rachel…I'm still learning. But we're doing fine. Aren't we sweetie?" The baby girl laughed as her mother tickled her belly. "And if you really don't like that woman I'll fire her. But I think you are being too hard on her. I'll talk to her and tell her to back off a little if you'll give her another chance."

"Okay." Wilson nodded. "Thanks Lisa. I feel a lot better."

"Wilson?" Lisa laughed pointing to House who had gone back to his pursuit of the duck.

"Oh Greg!" Wilson ran over and stopped House just as he reached the edge of a large puddle the duck had made its escape into. "I'll buy you some marshmallow ducks on the way home okay?"

"Are you talking about Peeps?" asked Cuddy. "I think those are supposed to be chickens."

"I'm Jewish." Wilson pointed out. "My family didn't celebrate Easter."

"So you can't tell a duck from a chicken?"

"The things are yellow! They're made out of marshmallow goo! They look like ducks! Greg thinks they're ducks. Don't you Greg?"

"No." Greg smiled sweetly as he threw a handful of grass at Wilson.


	34. Chapter 34

**More disclaimer...I don't own Peeps or any other marshmallow candy brand either. I had some at home but I ate them all.**

House's cheerful mood ended as soon as they dropped Rachel off back home and he realized where they were headed. He started shivering again and gripped tightly to Rusty's collar. "No!" he cried as they parked in front of the building.

"He is acting a little weird isn't he?" Cuddy mused.

"It could have something to do with the fact that his babysitter took away his Gameboy and then made him stand in the corner for crying."

"What? Why didn't you tell me that earlier? She made his stand there on his bad leg?"

"Apparently like everyone else she thinks I let him get away with too much." Wilson sighed.

"I said you give in too much, not to make him cry or make him uncomfortable. There is a difference between not letting someone eat ice cream whenever they feel like it and punishing a 50 year old man with brain damage by making him stand on his bad leg." Cuddy was fuming. "That woman is out of here. I want her gone, now. And I'm mad at you." She pointed an accusing finger at Wilson. "For not telling me sooner! Why didn't you bring it up when we were talking in the park?"

"Bad." House decided to join in and mimicked Cuddy by pointing his own finger at Wilson. Rusty chimed in with a high pitched bark. Just then Jennie came around the corner. "Bad!" House hid behind Wilson. Rusty followed, giving a low growl.

"I did not make him stand on his bad leg." Jennie asserted. "He was sitting in a chair. As a doctors I think both of you would know to respect a professional opinion. And it is my opinion that Dr. Wilson is not doing right by Greg when he lets him run wild, play video games, and do whatever else he pleases. Other doctors in this hospital have voiced concern over his handling of Greg. Someone with brain damage should be in therapy, not playing with blocks all day."

"I do respect a professional opinion." Wilson said tensely. "From the doctor who discharged him into my care. He has his dog and he is going to music therapy once a week. I keep him safe and I keep him happy."

"You think someone as brilliant as Dr. House would be happy wearing diapers and playing around on the floor with a dog all day?"

"I think…" Wilson paused. "Wait? How did you know…?"

"Nevermind." Jennie said a little too quickly.

Dr. Cuddy rubbed her forehead. "Okay. That's enough. Jennie please leave, I'll call you later on tomorrow to talk about this. Wilson, I really need you back in the clinic. I'll page….somebody and get them to watch House."

Wilson grudgingly unattached House's hand from his shirt sleeve and guided him over to Cuddy. The older man followed Cuddy into her office followed closely by his little spaniel. Wilson gave Jennie a fleeting glare before heading off to the clinic.

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The day had gone by so slowly that Wilson thought it would never be time to leave. He finally checked out with the nurse at the front desk and made his way up to House's playroom. House lay napping on a pile of blankets with a worried looking Chase watching over him. "Cameron was watching him before but they need her back in the ER. I'm surprised Cuddy was willing to pay for such high priced babysitters. I bet my hourly pay is ten times what that other woman was charging. Is he normally this tired? Cameron said he's been sleeping since she got up here."

"He was like this yesterday too. I have seen in like this since…"

"He was on morphine." Chase finished Wilson's sentence. "I know. That's exactly what Cameron said earlier."

"Did she say anything about him acting weird when she watched him yesterday?" Wilson asked.

"Cameron didn't watch House yesterday. She got pissed at Cuddy for harassing her about working with Foreman and took the day off. She was here briefly early in the morning but…"

"We need to get him downstairs and do a drug test." Wilson said urgently.

"What's going on?" Cameron came in through the door. She looked at Wilson. "Is he okay? He's been asleep since Cuddy asked me to come up here."

"Who was up here with him before?" Wilson pressed.

Cameron thought for a second. "Foreman…I don't know before that."

Chase looked at Wilson. "Foreman wouldn't have dosed House. He hated him before but he would never do something that stupid."

"Thirteen is Foreman's girlfriend." Cameron pointed out. "She hates…"

"Let's just get him downstairs." Wilson interrupted. Chase lifted his former boss into a conveniently located wheel chair. Just as they reached the elevator Wilson paused. "Wait. Where's the dog?"

"I thought he was in your office." Cameron said desperately. "I didn't seem him so I just assumed…" Wilson's eyes grew wide.

"Calm down." Chase said quietly. "Wilson, go find House's dog. Cameron and I will take care of Greg until you get back okay? I am sure the dog is fine. He probably just wandered off."

Wilson nodded, repeating to himself over and over again that the dog was fine. He returned to House's playroom and looked under the blankets. No Rusty. "Rusty?" Wilson called nervously. Nothing. Wilson opened the door to the bathroom. No spaniel. "Rusty?" Suddenly he heard a small whimper coming from behind him. Wilson rushed back into the playroom. "Here boy!"

Rusty came staggering out from behind a shelf. His eyes were glazed over and foam dripped from his chops. The little dog was shaking as he approached Wilson and he collapsed on the rug as soon as he reached Wilson's feet. "Oh god!" He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Cuddy's number.

Cuddy came bursting through the door moments later. Wilson sat on the floor cradling the dog in his lap. "Does it have rabies?" Cuddy looked down at the dog in disbelief.

Wilson shook his head. "He's be drugged." He said quietly. "Take the dog to the vet. Hopefully it's not too late. I need to be downstairs with Greg." He stood up and handed Cuddy the little dog before heading out the door.

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"Morphine." Chase said solemnly as he looked down at the paper in his hand. "And luckily for House not an overdose. Just enough to make him very groggy. It should wear off by tomorrow morning, maybe sooner."

"Who would do that to him?" Cameron looked down sadly at House who was fast to sleep in a hospital bed. Wilson, who sat in a chair next to the bed holding House's hand, shook his head.

"What about Wilson?" Thirteen's silky voice came from behind him. "Didn't he dose House with Benadryl once to get him sleepy?"

"Who let you in here?" Chase demanded. "Family only."

"The last time I checked I was a doctor here too and Wilson and Cameron aren't family."

"Get out." Just as Chase pointed to the door Taub and Foreman came running into the room.

"We just heard what happened." Taub paused to catch his breath. "Is he okay?"

"Dr. Wilson." Foreman gasped. "I ran down here as soon as I found out. You've got to believe me…"

"It's okay Foreman." Wilson said quietly. "This is my fault." Wilson squeezed House's hand. "I let him get passed around like a hot potato for the last two days…."

"This isn't your fault!" Cameron interrupted. "How did you know some psycho was going to come along…"

"How do we know it wasn't Wilson?" Thirteen challenged. "I heard he got that babysitter kicked out. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with it and…" Foreman looked at his girlfriend in disbelief.

"Will you all shut up?" Chase snapped. "For all we know this was some sort of horrible accident. Right now the only thing that matters is that Greg is going to be okay. Anyone who wants to stand around and fight needs to leave. Now." Thirteen glared at Chase and stomped out the door. Foreman gave a confused shrug and followed her.

"Rusty is going to be okay." Cuddy rushed into the room. "He is going to need to spend a few days at the vet but he will be fine. How is Greg?"

"Doped up but fine." Chase replied. "He is fine to go home with Wilson and sleep it off."

"James." Cuddy walked over and put a hand on Wilson's shoulder. "I am so sorry I didn't listen to you. I really messed up. I am going to make sure that we figure out how this happened."

Wilson shook his head. "It's not your fault."

"It's not anybody's fault but that crazy Cut-throat Bitch Thirteen. I didn't like her from the moment House hired her. She's all….bitchy."

"Allison." Chase said patiently. "This is no time to get catty…"

"I don't like her either." Cuddy interrupted. "And I was the one who told House to hire her. If I would have know about her issues with the Huntington's I never would have let her on House's team. It's pretty obvious she has issues with House and Wilson because she has issues with her own disease."

"You really think that Remy would try to kill House and the dog?" Wilson puzzled quietly. He looked over at House's sleeping form. "He always did seem kind of afraid of her after the time someone let him out of his hospital room."

"I don' think she wanted to kill anyone." Cuddy replied. "I think she wanted to blame you so that she could have another reason to get Adult Services involved. The dog just got in the way."

"Maybe that babysitter…" Cameron started.

"Now is not the time to be playing Sherlock Holmes." Chase insisted. "Wilson needs to get House home and into bed. I need to get back to the OR before I get fired."

"I won't let them fire you." Cuddy scoffed. "Remember who the boss is around here. Wilson, take House home. Cameron and Chase, get back to work." Chase smiled softly at his boss.

"Call me later and let me know if he is okay and how Rusty is doing." Cameron gave Wilson hug before leaving.

"It's going to be okay." Chase reassured as he made his way out the door.

"I am going to get to the bottom of this." Cuddy said firmly. "Whoever did this didn't know that I have a camera in that playroom."


	35. Chapter 35

**Last up date for today...still no own and don't have or own any Peeps either! Hopefully these past three chapters have been enjoyable and not too full of spelling/grammar errors. It was tougher than I though proof reading all three! **

Wilson carefully tucked House into bed. "Tomorrow we're going to go get marshmallow ducks and chocolate bunnies and then we'll spend all day at the park." Wilson whispered quietly as he turned off the light. He quietly padded into the living room and sat on the couch. He thought about calling to vet to see how Rusty was doing but decided to wait until morning.

"Wilson?"

"Come in." Wilson turned on the living room light before Cuddy, Cameron, Chase and Taub could all came piling into the room. Cuddy was pushing Rachel in a stroller. "Is this some kind of intervention?" Wilson joked lamely.

"We brought get well presents for Greg and Rusty." Taub smiled, holding up a few bags. "I have to get home to my wife but I wanted to stop by and say how sorry I was that this happened. I am glad they are both going to be alright."

"Thanks." Wilson took the bags. "All you of you from stopping by. I am sure that Greg and Rusty will love the gifts."

"We were kind of planning on staying." Cuddy said gently as Taub said his goodbyes to everyone else and headed for the door. "To celebrate some good news."

"Good news?" Wilson looked a bit baffled. "What good news?"

"Cuddy's camera worked." Cameron said excitedly.

"Really?" Wilson looked startled. "Who…I mean…are they going to jail?"

Cuddy nodded her head. "And I fired the pharmacist who gave them the morphine too."

"Well?" Wilson said looking at the trio tensely. "Please say you aren't just holding me until the cops get here because you agree with Thirteen."

"Thirteen losing her license and going to jail." Cameron grinned at Wilson.

"Only if they can prove that she had some kind of malicious intent." Chase pointed out. "She still claims that House had a prescription for morphine and that a nurse told her he was having leg pain."

"B.S." Cameron spat. "I know she just did it to hurt House."

Wilson looked dazed. "So she…How did she even get up there?"

"She followed Foreman up." Cuddy explained. "He left to go to the bathroom, she dosed him."

"This is crazy." Wilson shook his head. "I guess House's babysitter is off the hook. Call her and tell her to come back."

Cuddy looked at Wilson as if he had lost his mind. "Are you serious? After what she said to you in the lobby?"

Wilson shrugged. "Maybe she's right. Maybe I should be doing more for Greg. I mean if he saw himself now he would be pretty horrified. Obviously I am not doing as good a job as I thought I was."

"Did you not listen to anything I said to you in the park?" Cuddy snapped. "Maybe I need to make a tape for you so can listen to it every night before you go to sleep. And quit acting like House is sitting up on Mt. Olympus watching down on you caring for him. The only Greg you have to worry about is the one sleeping in the bedroom down the hall."

"Mnnn." As if on cue House stumbled into the living room and curled up near Wilson's feet.

"Hey buddy." Wilson said softly. "Did we wake you?" He ran a gentle hand over House's hair. "You really should be in bed."

"Mnn." House looked up at Cameron and Chase with glassed over eyes.

"I think we'd better go." Chase motioned to Cameron. "We'll see you later on in the week. Let us know if you need someone to pick Rusty up from the vet."

"Thanks." Wilson said quietly. He turned to Cuddy who was gently pushing Rachel's stroller back and forth. "Are you leaving too?"

"No. Rachel and I thought we'd stay to keep from drowning yourself in self doubt and self pity." She pulled a package out of her purse. "We brought marshmallow chickens."

"I still can't believe it was Thirteen." Wilson said as he helped House of off the floor.

"Why? Because attractive women aren't capable of doing anything evil?"

"No. You're plenty attractive and House always was sure you were evil. I'm going to put him back in bed." Wilson carefully moved House back into his bed and under the covers. He returned to the living room rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know. I guess I am glad that this part of the whole mess is over with and I can move on and deal with the rest of it."

"The rest of what?" Cuddy asked.

"Oh you know…going to work, picking up the house, being the caretaker of my best friend who has brain damage. Proving those marshmallow candies are ducks. All the normal things that people my age do with their lives."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Maybe you are right about the bad story thing. Either that or you have some really bad karma. I'm voting for number two. And it isn't over. You will probably have to give a police statement tomorrow and testify in court. "

Wilson sighed. "Give me one of those ducks."


	36. Chapter 36

**In case I don't get around to updating before then, Happy Easter/spring holiday time to everyone who reads and/or reviews this fic =) Here we go with chap 36! Hope you enjoy.....no own and all that. **

"Dusty?" A small pathetic voice came from the direction of House's bedroom. Wilson quickly got out of bed and jogged the short distance down the hall. He had been dreading the moment that House woke up to find Rusty missing and couldn't say that he had come prepared either. He had no idea how the older man was going to react and no idea how to explain that the dog was fine and would be home soon.

"Hey buddy." Wilson flipped on the lights. House was huddled up in the corner of the bed closest to the wall griping tightly to his teddy bear and shivering lightly. As Wilson sat down on the edge of the bed his friend pushed himself closer to the wall. He flinched as Wilson reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dusty." House sniffled. Wilson wondered if House had actually witnessed Thirteen stabbing his little dog with the syringe full of morphine. "No Dusty."

"It's okay buddy." Wilson tried to soothe. "Dusty is at the doctor's but he will be back soon."

"No Wilson!" Wilson was shocked when House actually pushed his arm away with a great deal of force. The blue eyes grew wide with fear as Wilson tried to moved closer and reach out for Greg's shoulder again. House curled up tighter and tried to shield himself with his teddy bear.

"Greg." Wilson said softly as his heart was torn by the sight of his terrified friend. "It's okay. Dusty is okay. You know I would never hurt you." House actually cried when Wilson tentatively reached out and put his hand back on his friends shoulder. After letting it rest there for a few seconds Wilson cautiously put out his other arm and pulled his shivering friend into a warm hug.

"Dusty." House sobbed into Wilson's shirt.

"It's okay." Wilson gently rubbed Greg's back. When the older man finally pulled away Wilson wiped the tears from his friend's face with the corner of a blanket. "Let's go see Dusty okay?"

"Dusty?" House asked tentatively.

It was the middle of the night but Wilson was fairly certain that there would be someone at the vet clinic looking out after the sick animals. Still dressed in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms, Wilson threw on a jacket and a pair of slip-ons. He pulled a sweatshirt over House's head and loaded him into the car. "Let's go see Dusty."

When a sleep deprived Wilson finally arrived at the vet clinic there was a light on the lobby. Leaving House in the car Wilson stood banging on the door for several minutes before a very irritated looking vet assistant finally came to the door. "Can I help you?"

"I am so sorry to bother you this late. My friend's service dog…"

"Oh! You're Rusty's dad! You must be so worried! He is doing great!" The girl's demeanor changed instantly. "He should be ready to go home tomorrow morning."

"I know this is probably too much to ask but could I bring Rusty's owner into see him? He has special needs and…"

"No problem." The girl said quickly. "The vet told me the lady who brought Rusty in was really worried about the disabled guy that Rusty looks after. I'll bring Rusty into an exam room and you two can meet him in there. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to bring him home though."

"That's fine. Thank you." Wilson went to the car to retrieve House.

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The next day found Wilson back at the park watching House and Rusty play in the grass next to a small duck pond. Rusty stood patiently between the water and his master, gently nudging him away every time House ventured too close to the water's edge. The little spaniel seemed a bit tired from his ordeal but otherwise no worse for wear. He valiantly kept up with his owner, who still seemed at little groggy from the morphine but no less willing to get himself into trouble.

"Careful Greg." Wilson warned as House tried to approach a larger duck, holding out a piece of string cheese. "I don't think the duck is interested in your snack."

"Dusty!" House giggled as the little dog half heartily chased off the quacking beast. Wilson shook his head as House spotted another duck and starting stalking it with the string cheese.

"I thought I'd find you here." A voice came from behind him. Cuddy took a seat on the bench next to Wilson. "I made sure your patients for this morning were covered but I was hoping I could convince you to come in this afternoon."

"I was planning on it." Wilson replied. "Greg's music teacher squeezed him in for the day. I just wanted to spend a little time with him before I dropped him off. He was really upset when he woke up last night."

"See you this afternoon." Cuddy gave Wilson a quick pat on the shoulder and left him watching House and the ducks.

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"He is terrified of his music teacher." Wilson said sadly as he entered Cuddy's office. "I could still hear him screaming when I got in the car. I don't know what to do. Should a take a few days off? Let him stay home for awhile? Should I keep pushing him and hope that he just gets past this?"

"Be glad the music teacher still agreed to take him." Cuddy pointed out. "You are out of vacation time and if you miss anymore work the board is going to start pushing to make someone else department head."

"I'm afraid to bring him back to the hospital. He freaked out when we drove by it on the way to his class."

"James, I know it's hard. But you can't protect him from everything. He is going to have to come back here eventually, even if you find another solution for daycare. And I think it's better for both of you if he's here during the day. He can have lunch with you and you can check on him instead of sitting there worrying. Thirteen is gone now. We'll make sure that he never gets passed around like that again. Things will be fine."

Wilson ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not sure about that babysitter. Should we look for another one?"

"It's up to you Wilson. I have to get back to work. I have a meeting with some potential donors in fifteen minutes and I am still working out the details for the Spring benefit. Are you and Greg going to be there? The invitation says kids welcome. I am planning on bringing Rachel."

"We'll see." Wilson sighed and headed back up to his office but found himself walking past the door and down to House's playroom. The tops of the shelves were now littered with Get Well cards from various staff members along with several brightly wrapped packages and a huge jar of cherry lollipops from the clinic. Wilson smiled as he looked over the cards. He jumped as a voice came from behind him.

"Dr. Wilson?" Foreman stood in the doorway holding a huge box wrapped in bright orange paper. "Sorry I didn't drop by your place last night with everyone else. I had some thinking to do."

Wilson stood there for a moment not knowing what to say. He finally took the box and put a hand on Foreman's shoulder. "I'm sorry too. I know you're going through a hard time."

Foreman shook his head. "I just can't believe that she did that. I never thought…I mean I thought I knew her. Is House doing okay?"

"He's much better now that he has Rusty back. Last night was rough but we got through it. He's at his music therapy class now. I have to go pick him up in a few hours."

"You told us he can still play the piano. That's amazing. Have you considered having him play at the Spring benefit? Cuddy is still looking for people to do entertainment."

Wilson shook his head. "House never liked an audience. At least when it came to the piano."

Foreman laughed. "I guess he saved that for when he had just figured out a huge case or was insulting someone. He always seemed to enjoy an audience then. See you later Dr. Wilson."

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When Wilson opened the door to the music class he heard the sad strains of Damien Rice's Nine Crimes coming from the piano. House sat on the bench with Rusty at his side. His eyes were closed as his fingers delicately danced across the ivory. He looked so much like his former self that Wilson felt a bit ill and had to retreat to the parking lot to recover. After a few deep breaths Wilson finally went back to the door. He had been spotted and House was limping across the floor to greet him.

"Mine Wilson." House grinned. He threw his arms around his friend in a tight hug.

"You would have thought the world was going to end when you left this morning." Dr. Hansen smiled at Wilson. "It took about an hour to calm him down but once he did we were just fine. He even had some lunch. Do you want to show your friend the new musical instrument we played with today Gregory?"

"Yay!" House agreed happily. He went over to a large xylophone and began plucking out the scales with the wooden hammer. He beamed up at Wilson.

"Very good." Wilson smiled, still feeling a bit sick at the memory of House sitting at the piano looking so much like nothing had ever happened to his head.

"Of course Gregory's first love is still the piano." Dr. Hansen smiled. "Have you found one for at home yet? I really think you would both enjoy it."

Wilson shook his head. "Things have been a little crazy lately."

"Well I hope thing settle down and I am glad that Gregory wasn't hurt by that awful woman. I hope to see him again next week. I was also going to give you this." She handed Wilson a flyer. "It's a swim class at the local pool for people with special needs. After hearing Gregory's newest word today I think he might enjoy it."

"New word?" Wilson asked.

"Duck!" House piped up. He pointed to a picture of a green duck on a poster of alphabetically arranged animals on the wall. "Red duck."

Wilson shook his head. "The duck is green buddy. Thanks for the flyer. We'll look into it. Say bye Greg."

"No you." House smiled sweetly as they made their exit and headed out to the car.

**Obviously don't own Damien Rice or his music either...if you have never heard the song Nine Crimes it is worth looking it up on youtube and having a listen. The music video is very weird but the song sad but nice. You can also find a couple of versions of people playing on the piano without the lyrics if you search youtube for Nine Crimes Piano.**


	37. Chapter 37

**Sorry it has taken me so long to update again! Life at home has been keeping me busy enough I just haven't had the time. Darn that having to keep my house in running order! Anyway, thanks to some bad weather here is chapter 37, with chap 38 to follow soonly! Hope everyone is still enjoying the story! I have finally figured out how I am going to end this one so...be prepared for that if you are still interested! Enjoy and people that review are awesome! **

"The zoo is a very interesting choice for a hospital benefit." Wilson smiled at Cuddy. "Did the animals offer to donate as well?"

"I got a great deal on renting the place for the day." Cuddy rolled her eyes as she pushed Rachel along in her stroller. "Greg seems to be enjoying himself."

House sat comfortably in his new wheel chair eating cotton candy with one hand and griping tightly to a stuffed tiger with the other. He had on a new pair of sunglasses and a brand new orange baseball cap with a lion on it that Wilson had purchased at the zoo store along with the tiger and the cotton candy. Rusty trotted alongside House's chair sporting a new zoo themed bandanna. "Nom!" House said excitedly as they approached a cart selling ice cream cones.

"One small vanilla." Wilson paid for the cone and handed it to Greg. "No more sugar for the rest of the day. That is your second ice cream cone."

"You're the one that keeps buying them for him." Cuddy pointed out. She eyeballed House's new chair. "Where did you find a wheel chair with flames on it?"

"Chase found it in a catalog. It reminded him of one of House's old canes. I couldn't see making him walk around the zoo on his bad leg and it was one of the only models with a sunshade."

"Ducks!" House motioned at a display of small penguins. "Wilson! Ducks!"

"Those are penguins, buddy. Kind of like ducks in tuxedos. You want to check them out?" Wilson pushed House closer to the pen containing the black and white creatures. Greg grinned as the small animals leaped in and out of the water in pursuit of fish. Rusty put his front paws on the side of the enclosure to get a closer look.

"Ice cream and cotton candy. Very healthy." A voice came from behind Wilson. "Does he have some sugary soda to wash that down with?"

Wilson spun around quickly. "Jennie. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Well, what can I say? Who could turn down a five hundred dollar minimum donation trip to the zoo? Especially when the trip includes a free lunch." She smiled at House. "Hi Greg."

"Bad." House pouted. Rusty gave a low growl and tucked his tail between his legs.

"Nice to see you too." She turned back to Wilson. "Actually part of the reason I came was because I was hoping to run into you two. I wanted to apologize for all of the stuff I said earlier this week. It is pretty obvious that you really care about your friend. Even if I happen to think some of that caring is well…I'll shut my mouth now. I am really sorry. I understand if you don't want me to come back."

"I'm sorry too." Wilson said simply. "Maybe you were right about some of those things. Greg and I want you to come back. Just do me a huge favor and never put him in the corner again. I know how frustrating he can get but next time please just bring him to my office."

Jennie raised an eyebrow. "Rewarding bad behavior?"

Wilson rolled his eyes. "I'll be sure to put on a really dull movie every time you bring him in."

Jennie shook her head. "Has anyone ever called you a push over Dr. Wilson?"

"No actually. See you on Monday." House turned around and stuck out his tongue as Wilson pushed him towards the next exhibit.

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"I need to leave early." Wilson announced as he led Greg into Cuddy's office.

"Going to the beach?" Cuddy raised an eyebrow. Greg stood next to Wilson dressed in swim trunks, a water resistant swim shirt, flip-flops and the sunglasses Wilson had bought him at the zoo. The overall cool surfer-boy effect was ruined by the goofy grin on House's face and Rusty prancing happily at his side. "Or is this your way of telling me you just won a trip to the Bahamas?"

"Swim lessons for Greg." Wilson held up the flyer that House's music teacher had given him. "I was just going to have Jennie take him but it is his first day and…"

"Go." Cuddy waved a hand at the door. "Next time skip the goofy outfit and just ask."

"The outfit isn't goofy." Wilson said defensively. "I ordered it from a surf shop online. It's the brand worn by…"

"Relax." Cuddy shook her head. "He looks cute. Just remember to take off the glasses before he goes in the pool."

"He felt guilty for not being able to take Greg to his first lesson and over compensated by buying very expensive swimwear. And yes, he does look cute." Jennie leaned in the doorway. Rusty greeted her with his customary growl. "I'll see you two tomorrow."

"I'm still not sure about her." Wilson said as soon as the babysitter was out of earshot. "Rusty doesn't like her."

"So get rid of her."

"I don't know. She does seem to really care about Greg."

"So keep her. Don't you three have a swim lesson to get to?"

"See you tomorrow Lisa." Wilson led Greg and Rusty out to the car.

The ride to the public pool where the swimming lessons were held was uneventful. Wilson warily pulled into the parking lot of the building and led House and his furry companion inside. Wilson had never been to a public pool before and was surprised at how nice the place was. The locker room was just as clean as the one at the gym where he and House had been members many years before. "You've got to take a shower before you go in buddy." Wilson removed House's sunglasses and put them in his front pocket.

"No." House whined as the cold water hit the top of his head. His whiny demeanor quickly changed as Wilson led him out of the locker room and down to the edge of the pool. He turned to Wilson with a quizzical look on his face. "Wilson?"

"It's like a big bathtub." Wilson assured. "Only without the soap." Rusty whimpered uneasily at the sight of his master so close to the water's edge. "Easy Rusty. It's okay." A few of people who Wilson guessed were House's fellow classmates were already in the water.

"Is he here for lessons?" An older lady swam to the side of the pool. Wilson nodded. "Okay well you just need to get a life vest and some water wings on him and he can come in the pool." She paused and eyeballed Wilson. "I take it you aren't planning on swimming with him today."

"No. I didn't realize…"

"That's okay. The vests and water wings are over there. Come pick him up in an hour. Oh and if you wouldn't mind taking the dog with you? We wouldn't want him jumping in the pool."

"Is it okay if we stay? I can put the dog on a leash." Wilson struggled to get House into a life vest.

"No problem." The lady smiled. "I am guessing this is Greg?"

"No." House clutched to Wilson's arm as they got the pool's stairs.

Wilson laughed. "Yes, despite what he just said this is Greg. He hasn't been in a pool in a long time. I think he's a little nervous."

"Don't worry. I'll take it from here." The older woman smiled at Wilson. Wilson carefully detached his nervous friend from his arm and watched as House hesitantly made his way into the pool. As soon as the water was up to his waist he turned around and gave Wilson a huge smile. The oncologist gave a small sigh of relief as he clipped a very anxious Rusty to a leash and sat down on a bench.

House slashed around in the pool for a few minutes before spotting a small beach ball in the water. He quickly snatched the ball and tried to balance it under his arm. Wilson failed to see how floating around in the pool on water wings counted as swim lessons but decided that as long as Greg was having fun it was worth the extra twenty dollars a week for the time in the pool. House maneuvered himself over to the pool's edge. "Wilson!"

"What is it buddy?" Wilson tied Rusty to the bench and carefully made his way to the edge of the pool, trying not to get his loafers wet.

House held up the ball. "Red, blue, green!" House recited happily as he pointed to the corresponding colors on the ball. "Red, blue, green!"

"Wow, buddy. That is quite impressive. You got them all right."

"Wilson!" House splashed his friend before tossing the ball at Wilson's head.

"Thanks Greg." Wilson wiped the water from his face and tossed the ball back into the pool. "I'll remember to wear my swimsuit next time."


	38. Chapter 38

**As promised, chap 38 (told you it would be following soonly!)**

"Any good news?" Wilson stood watching Greg play with a set of brightly colored blocks as he nervously awaited the psychiatrist's verdict.

The man shook his head. "From these test results I see little change from the first time you had him in here. His vocabulary has certainly expanded a little but that was to be expected. If you want I can refer you to a neurologist but at this point I couldn't say it would be worth your while."

Wilson gave the other doctor a look of disappointment. "I was hoping the memorizing his colors meant he was getting a little better."

"I'm sorry Dr. Wilson. I could refer Greg to a speech therapist if you would like to keep working on his vocabulary. Like I said he has shown some improvement in that area."

Wilson sighed. "He already has a therapy dog, goes to music therapy once a week, and is going to what I can only describe as pool therapy every week too. I don't want to overwhelm him."

"Well it sounds like you are doing a lot for him. If you have any more questions for me feel free to give me a call."

"Thanks. Come on Greg. Rusty is waiting for you in my office." The little dog had been quietly pacing the office waiting for his owner's return.

"Dusty!" House limped over to the dog as soon as Wilson opened the office door. "Mine Dusty."

"How'd it go?" Foreman stood in the doorway smiling as he watched his former boss interact with the overjoyed spaniel.

"Not good." Wilson frowned. He ran a hand through his hair. "I was hoping that…well, I should know better than to get my hopes up."

"You know they are doing a trial at Princeton General that you might be interested in. I just found out about it from a friend of mine I went to school with. This will be the first human trial but it has shown promising results in dogs and lab rats."

"Dogs and rats. Well that is comforting."

Foreman shrugged. "House used to use experimental treatments on his patients all of the time. In most cases we got great results. It would be safer than your plan of digging around in his brain."

"That was temporary insanity." Wilson gave a weak smile. "Maybe if the treatment goes into a second trial period or gets approved…"

"You know that could take years. I'll email you the info in case you change your mind."

"Thanks." Wilson looked down at House and Rusty as Foreman shut the door.

"Nom?" House asked hopefully.

"Sure buddy. Let's go get lunch."

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"So I hear you are turning down treatment options now." Jennie gave Wilson what he assumed was a phony smile as he dropped Greg back off at his playroom.

"Word travels fast around here. It is an experimental treatment and…"

"Speech therapy is experimental?"

"How did you find out about that?" Wilson decided to have a little talk with House's psychiatrist when he was done here. "Greg's treatment files are confidential…"

"They might be but stuff you mention to Dr…Jewish guy with big nose…in the elevator ride up to your office is not."

"You've been asking Greg's former staff about me?" Wilson made a mental note to skip talking to the psychiatrist and have a little talk with Taub instead.

"Not about you. About Greg. Why does that bother you so much?"

"It doesn't." Wilson said as he adjusted his tie uncomfortably. "I just…I mean his treatment is between me and his doctors. If you really want to know I think speech therapy is too much on top of all of the other things he is already doing. I don't want to overwhelm him."

"That's fine." Jennie shrugged. House sat down at a table and began ripping up a piece of colored paper. Rusty sat next to him keeping his eye trained on the babysitter. "Any reason that you only brought pop-tarts for his snack today?"

"He has been on this pop-tart kick since this morning. It is the only thing I can get him to eat. He had pop-tarts for lunch too."

"Because you let him get away with it." Jennie started. "If you let him go hungry…"

"You're advocating letting him go hungry?" Wilson was quickly becoming frustrated with the accusations and interrogation. "I am not doing that to him. If he wants to eat nothing but pop-tarts for the rest of his life…"

"They're full of sugar. They're bad for his teeth."

"I don't know why I am even arguing with you. I'm his caregiver, not you. If you don't like the way I care for him, quit!"

"Dr. Wilson I wasn't saying…"

"Here. Take him to the cafeteria and buy him something else." Wilson grabbed House's pop-tart filled lunch box and replaced it with a handful of dollar bills. "When he won't eat it you can come to my office and I'll give him a pop-tart." House and Rusty both winced as Wilson let the frosted glass doors to the playroom slam shut as he headed back to if office.

"Are you okay?" Cameron asked as Wilson nearly plowed her over.

"I'm not sure about that babysitter." Wilson slammed the door to his office in Cameron's face.


	39. Chapter 39

**One more for today, just caz =) Disclaimer: I am just borrowing. **

"You rang?" Wilson slowly entered Cuddy's office.

Lisa looked up from her desk. "I'm not so sure about House's babysitter."

"You and me both." Wilson grimaced as he took a seat.

"She came in here a few minutes ago ranting about you feeding Greg pop-tarts…"

"I only gave him the pop-tarts because it was the only thing I could get him to eat all day! I help him brush his teeth every night before he goes to bed and again in the morning when he gets up. I'm sorry if…"

"Will you calm down? I don't care about the damn pop-tarts, James. I care that she is in here ranting about breakfast pastries when I am in the middle of trying to get this paperwork down to payroll." Cuddy paused. "And Greg looked upset. Are you sure he likes her?"

Wilson shook his head. "She really seems to care about him. She got really upset when she found out that I wasn't putting him in speech therapy."

"You should know better than to gossip in the elevators."

"I hardly call talking to Taub about Greg's treatment gossiping." Wilson looked a little insulted.

Cuddy smiled. "I'm just giving you a hard time. She shouldn't be questioning the staff about you or Greg. I don't doubt that she cares; I just worry a little about her methods. Did Foreman talk to you about the trial over at Princeton General?"

"He is going to email me the information."

"I already went over it. It looks promising. It also looks a risky. I'll let you go over it yourself and see what you think."

"I can't believe she made such a big deal about the pop-tarts."

"Look James." Cuddy sighed. "I do have to agree with Jennie that you tend to over compensate and give into him a lot. But who wouldn't in your situation? You feel guilty and you want him to be happy…"

"I am not as much as a pushover as everyone seems to think." Wilson interjected. "If I let Greg do whatever he wanted he would never have clothes on or take a bath. I have to fight with him to get him in bed, out of bed, dressed, into the car. He hates having his teeth brushed. As long as he is eating I just don't see adding what he eats to the list of things I have to fight him over. It isn't like I can just sit down and explain to him why things are good or bad for him."

Cuddy gave Wilson a gentle smile. "We all know you care about him."

"Let me guess? You just doubt my methods?" Wilson frowned. "I just want to see him happy. When we were friends, before all of this, he hardly ever smiled. If he did it lasted a few seconds at most. If I can make him happy now by letting him eat crappy food or buying him an overpriced pair of zoo sunglasses I am going go for it. This has nothing to do with me being guilty and everything to do with the fact that I love seeing him smile."

Cuddy nodded. "I understand that. If you are having problems with Jennie just fire her okay? Or if you want I can sit her down and tell her to back off."

"Thanks Lisa."

"Call me and tell me what you think about the trial."

"Sure thing."

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"Hey buddy. Time to go home." House sat sniffling on a beanbag chair with Rusty sitting protectively by his side. "What's the matter?" Wilson looked up a Jennie. "Why is he crying?"

"He wouldn't eat what I put in front of him so I wouldn't let him watch TV." She explained.

"Didn't I tell you…?"

"You told me I couldn't put him in the corner or make him miss a snack. You didn't say anything about not letting him watch TV. He watches too much of it as it is."

"Let me put this into simpler terms." Wilson said tensely. "You are under no circumstance to punish Greg in any way, shape or form. Unless he is in danger just let him do what he wants. If he wants to watch TV all day, fine. If he wants to color, paint; eat pop-tarts, whatever. Just let him."

"So I should let him draw on the walls?"

"No! That is not what I am saying. It is fine to redirect him. I do it all the time at home." Wilson sat down next to Greg and put his arm around him. "It's okay Greg. We'll rent a movie on the way home okay? Do you want to stop and get dinner? Maybe try something other than pop-tarts?"

"Wilson." Greg sniffled and buried his face in Wilson's shoulder.

"You're reinforcing bad behavior." Jennie pointed out.

"You made him cry." Wilson countered.

"You've never done anything to make him cry?"

"No! Well…I may have lost my temper a few times but I have never …I care about Greg okay? I don't want to see him upset. And I am not going to waste time making him miserable just so he will eat a few carrot sticks."

"Okay." Jennie shrugged. "Greg do you want to show Wilson what you learned today?"

House sniffed. He went over to the table and retrieved a coloring page. "Duck." He pointed to a picture of a bear on the page.

"Come on Greg, you know the right word." Jennie lifted Greg's teddy bear off of the top of a shelf and held it up to him. "What is this?"

"Bad." House sniffled.

"You want it back? You have to say the right word."

House looked at Wilson pitifully. Rusty growled in Jennie's direction. "Mine bear."

"Very good." Jennie handed the teddy back to Greg. "See." She said triumphantly. "You just need to push him a little."

"By punishing him?"

"No, I rewarded him by giving him back the bear."

"You should have never taken it away in the first place." Wilson put a gentle hand on House's shoulder. "Come on buddy. Let's go home." Rusty growled at Jennie again as the trio made their way out the door.

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"So what do you think about the trial?" Cuddy's voice came over the phone line. House sat on the couch happily munching down Chicken McNuggets and watching the Sponge Bob Movie on TV. Rusty curled contently at his master's side, snapping up little pieces of food that Greg would occasionally slip to the dog.

"I don't know." Wilson paused to take a bite of a French fry. "It sounds really risky. And not really worth the risk either. Only twenty five percent of the dogs in the second phase trials regained any brain function and of those dogs ten percent experienced permanent lower body paralysis." Wilson looked over at Rusty, shuddering to think that anyone would be cold hearted enough to do medical trials on an innocent dog. He was pretty certain there were better alternatives out there that didn't involve paralyzing pooches.

"That means there is a twenty five percent chance that Greg could regain some brain function." Cuddy pointed out.

"You know as well as I do…hang on a second." Wilson turned to House. "Greg, no. Don't feed your dinner to the dog. Sorry. You know that success in animal trials doesn't always translate to human success. I don't know about supporting a trial that has used dogs as lab animals either."

"I'll leave it up to you."

"Thanks…oh Greg!" House had dumped his chicken all over the floor. Rusty jumped to retrieve it. "Rusty, no! Sit! Greg, don't eat that it's been in the dog's mouth! Yuck! Sorry Lisa, I have to go." Wilson hung up the phone and pulled the other half of the dog spit covered McNugget from House's hand. "Don't eat things that have been in Rusty's mouth buddy."

House leaned over and gave Wilson a hug. "Mine Wilson." He smiled up at his friend.

Wilson shook his head and smiled. "Come on. Let's find you something that doesn't have dog drool on it okay? I think we have some chicken tenders in the freezer."

"Mine nom." House agreed happily. As he friend quietly ate his meal Wilson sat at his laptop going over the results of the trial at Princeton General again and again. He thought about House now and House before. House smiling as he watched ducks play in a pond, House frowning as he worked out a medical mystery.

"Are you happy buddy?" Wilson puzzled as he watched his friend eat.

Greg looked up from his plate. "Mine Wilson." He smiled.

"Mine Greg." Wilson replied. Rusty woofed as if to say he was in agreement.

"Dusty!" House giggled as he tossed a chicken tender to the floor.

"Don't feed your dinner to the dog Greg." Wilson looked over the email again, at odds with himself on what to do next.


	40. Chapter 40

**Just as a warning I have posted five chapters at once...including the final chapter of this story. I didn't want to leave it hanging because I hate cliff hangers and it is bad enough I have to wait two weeks until the new episode of the "real" House story line. Disclaimer for all five chapters say I wish I owned these character but I don't. Hope you enjoy the rest of this story. Kind of sad to see it end...**

"I'm not going to do it." Wilson announced as he stood on Cuddy's front porch.

"You came all the way over here to tell me that? You are as bad as he used to be." She motioned to House who stood next to Wilson wearing a pair of monster truck pajamas and sneakers. He griped loosely to Rusty's leash. "You could have just called."

"I'm sorry." Wilson looked at the ground. "It's been a tough decision and…"

"It couldn't have been that tough if you made up your mind that fast. Go home and sleep on it. Go talk to the doctors running the trial. Have you even seen if he qualifies yet?"

"No."

"Go home and go to bed. Greg looks tired. You didn't wake him up to drag him over here did you?" Wilson was suspiciously silent. "James! Take him home and put him back to bed." Cuddy shook her head as she closed the front door.

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The next day Wilson couldn't concentrate on his paperwork. He shuffled files of paper around his desk, pausing every few minutes to look up at the clock. He finally gave up and decided to take a break for lunch. He left his office and made his way to Greg's playroom.

"Wilson." House sat in a corner looking utterly dejected. Rusty whined and looked up at his master's best friend.

"What did you do to him?" Wilson asked Jennie accusingly.

"Nothing." She replied airily. "Maybe he is upset because he wants to go to speech therapy instead of babbling like a little boy."

Wilson eyed the babysitter suspiciously before turning back to House. "What's the matter buddy?"

"Wilson." House curled himself up into a small ball in the corner and put his shirt sleeve in his mouth. His eyes were red from crying.

"Buddy." Wilson knelt down next to his friend. He took a tissue from his pocket and wiped House's nose. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing." Jennie shrugged. "Too bad he can't talk enough to tell you what the matter is. I am guessing you are here to take him out for more sugar? Or is it fast food this time?"

"I brought him pancakes from home." Wilson said defensively. "Come on Greg. You want to go have pancakes with me? We can go eat them outside if you want. Or in the doctor's lounge. You can watch TV in there."

"Ouch!" House griped his right thigh. He looked up at Wilson with tears in his eyes.

"Has his leg been bothering him?" Wilson asked Jennie.

She shrugged again. "I don't know. He has been pouting in that corner all day. I would have made him come out but I was afraid that would count against your whole 'let him do whatever he wants' policy."

"You're punishing me for not letting you punish him by letting him sit in a corner in pain." Wilson looked dumbfounded. "I don't even know where to start. Unfortunately it will have to wait." He turned back to House and lowered his voice. "It's okay Greg. We'll find Dr. Cameron and have her take a look okay?"

House sniffled and struggled to get his feet. He hung his head a little as he reached out for Wilson's hand and let himself be led out into the hall. Rusty bristled as he past Jennie to make his way to his master's side. "Bad."

"We'll find Cameron and she'll figure out what's hurting. Can you walk?" Greg answered Wilson's question by nearly collapsing and grabbing onto his leg. "It's okay buddy; I'll get your chair okay?" Wilson helped House sit down on the hall floor before rushing into his office and retrieving Greg's wheel chair which was folded up in a corner. House whimpered painfully as his friend helped him get settled and covered his lap with a blanket.

"Is he okay?" Cameron came up behind Wilson.

Wilson shook his head. "It's his leg. I was actually looking for you to see if you could take a look."

"I was looking for you too. Foreman wanted me to talk to you about the trial at Princeton General. How bad do you think the pain is?"

"He was crying and don't think he can walk on it." House sniffled as if to emphasize Wilson's point.

"Let's get him into an exam room."

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"Ouch!" House struggled as Wilson tried to hold him still. Rusty jumped up on the exam table and gave Wilson an almost human dirty look.

"I know it hurts sweetie." Cameron gave House a sympathetic smile. "But I can't help you if you won't let me look at your leg."

"No." House whimpered. He sat on the exam table wearing only a gown and his disposable underpants. Cameron used to pause in her former boss's struggling to reach over and touch the scar on his leg. House yelped and scooted back on the table.

"It's obviously really sore." Cameron looked apologetically at Wilson. "Can you get him to stand up?"

"Come on Greg. I need you to stand up for me." Wilson moved away and put out his hand. House cried as Wilson pulled him up off of the table.

Cameron carefully lifted up Greg's gown. "The muscle is probably sore from him walking on it so much. We could try putting a hot pack on it to relax the muscle but our best would be…"

"We can't use morphine." Wilson said quietly as he helped House back down on the exam table. Rusty snuggled up against Greg's side and let his master bury his face in his fur. "Not after last time. It will traumatize him."

"I know but it is our best bet. It was the only thing that ever seemed to calm down the leg pain before. I know you and Cuddy thought a lot of that was psychosomatic but…"

"I know." Wilson looked down sadly at his suffering friend. "What about a hot bath or a massage?"

"Maybe." Cameron said hesitantly. "But the drugs would work a lot faster."

"Ouch, Wilson!" House sobbed. His voice was muffled by Rusty's fur.

"Let's do it." Wilson said quickly. Greg's muffled sobs were tearing at his heart. "How do you want to do this?"

"I'm going to give him the morphine IV." Cameron replied. "Hopefully it will be less scary than a shot. You hold him and calm him down, I'll do the rest."

"Hey." Wilson climbed up on the exam table next to his distraught friend. "Come here buddy." House removed his face from Rusty's fur and let himself be pulled into a warm hug. "It's okay." Wilson soothed. He gently rubbed Greg's back in slow, comforting circles. "It's okay."

"Mnnn" Greg snuffled into Wilson shirt. Cameron quickly grabbed hold of House's left arm and expertly slipped in the IV. He turned and looked at her with accusing blue eyes.

"Sorry sweetie." Cameron patted him on the shoulder. "Can you get him to lay back now Wilson?"

Wilson let go of his friend and hopped off the exam table. "Lay back now Greg. You're okay." The younger doctor gently helped lower the frightened older man down, using his hand like a pillow behind Greg's head. "You're okay." He repeated.

"Done." Cameron announced as she finished injecting the morphine into the IV. A few seconds later House was looking groggy.

"I'll move him upstairs and get him comfortable on the couch in my office. Thanks Cameron." Wilson carefully moved House into his wheel chair. Rusty quickly moved to the side of the chair looking at his master with a worried expression on his doggy face. "I can't believe Jennie just let him sit in a corner in so much pain.

"She probably didn't know what was going on. Even you misdiagnosed his strep as a sore throat from screaming. She might have thought he was being stubborn. That's why I think you should consider the trial, Wilson. So stuff like this doesn't happen anymore."

"There's no guarantee it will work." Wilson pointed out as he covered House with a blanket. "And there is a chance of some really negative side effects. Some of the test dogs that received this treatment because paralyzed in their lower bodies. "

"I read all the information that Foreman sent you. I think it would be worth it. For you and House. When my husband was sick…"

"Listen Cameron, I appreciate that you are trying to help. But Greg is not your dying husband. He isn't even dying. He's fine."

"What about you?" Cameron asked quietly.

"If he became paralyzed because of a treatment that I authorized I couldn't live with myself."

"You were the one who told me that I would be surprised by what I could live with."

Wilson looked down at his best friend who was now sound to sleep in his wheel chair with his service dog by his side. "That's not what I meant when I said that." Wilson said quietly. He slowly pushed House back upstairs, careful not to wake him.

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"Dr. Wilson I am so sorry. If I had any idea …"

"It's okay Jennie." Wilson said softly as he tucked Greg in on his office couch. He turned to the babysitter. "I once thought he had a sore throat from screaming and it turned out to be strep."

"I thought he was being stubborn."

"He can be very stubborn." Wilson agreed, tucking House's teddy bear under his arm. "You should have seen him before this happened. Talk about stubborn."

"I'll see you both tomorrow." Jennie quietly exited Wilson's office as Cuddy came rushing through the door.

"Is he okay? Cameron just told me what happened."

"He's fine." Wilson smoothed back his sleeping friend's hair. "I just need to be more aware of his leg. I have a hot pack on it under the blankets and I'll give him a nice warm bath when he wakes up."

"Have you given any more thought to the trial?"

"The trial procedure isn't going fix his leg, Lisa."

"I know that. And I am not trying to push you to in any direction as to yes or no. I just want you to really think about it before you make your final decision. This isn't choosing a sandwich in the cafeteria, James. This is huge. It affects your life and his."

"You don't think I know that?" Wilson replied, trying to keep his voice down. "You don't think I haven't agonized over this? I can't even concentrate on my job because I keep wondering to myself it I am doing the right thing for him or not."

"What do you think House would do if it were you?" Cuddy asked gently.

Wilson snorted. "He'd probably have already have cut into my brain himself because he missed the free lunches."

"Again I'm not trying to push you one way or the other. I just want you to really consider things. Both for yourself and for him."

Wilson nodded. He watched House shift a little on the couch and snuggled closer to his teddy bear.


	41. Chapter 41

**Disclaimer here...hopefully enjoy. **

"You should do the surgery." Chase said firmly as he helped Wilson move the sleeping House out of the car and into his wheel chair.

"Rusty, watch out. Come here boy." Wilson moved the little dog out of the path of the chair. "What makes you so certain that surgery is the right choice?"

"Because." Chase opened the front door. "You could get your life back. House could regain some independence. Maybe he could even get an entry level job somewhere."

"You want me to risk the procedure so Greg can be a greeter at Wal-Mart?"

"House would have done it if he were his own patient. Do you want him on the couch or in his bed?"

"In his bed. And House would have done anything if there was a chance it could have cured his patient. He took horrible risks and got lucky. It was never about what was best for the person; it was about solving the puzzle."

"He never enjoyed losing a patient." Chase pointed out as he moved House onto his bed.

"Because if they died that meant that the puzzle was over and he had lost. Greg isn't a puzzle to me. He isn't even a patient. He's my best friend and I am not going to risk making him worse. He isn't dying. He isn't even really sick. He's happy."

"You wouldn't be willing to risk making him worse. Would you be willing to risk him getting better?"

"That doesn't make any sense." Wilson snapped. "I would love if there were a way for him to recover from this."

"And go back to his miserable old self."

"That procedure has no chance of bringing Greg back to what he was before." Wilson covered House up with the blankets, nearly covering Rusty in the process. "Oh sorry boy." Rusty wagged his tail and snuggled up next to Greg.

"So then why not do it? You want him to be happy and you just said there was no chance of him going back to being miserable."

"Thanks for your help Chase." Wilson said sharply. "See you at the hospital."

Chase nodded. "Be sure to call Cameron and let her know how Greg's doing. She'll worry if you don't."

Wilson sat down at the end of House's bed as the he heard the door close. The older man seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Wilson reached over to rub his friend's shoulder and watched as he gently stirred but didn't wake. "Are you happy Greg?"

"Mmmm." House mumbled in his sleep.

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"Mnnn!" Wilson jumped off of the couch as he heard the loud groan coming from House's room. He scurried down the hall and found Greg thrashing around in his bed only half awake.

"I'm here buddy." Wilson hurried to his friend's side and tried to readjust the covers. House was shivering and gripping tightly to his pillow. "What's the matter?"

"Mnn!" Greg reached up and latched onto Wilson's arm. The glassiness of his blue eyes couldn't even mask the pain he was in.

"Is you leg still bothering you? Do you want to take a hot bath and see if that helps?" House began to cry as Wilson moved him back into his wheel chair. "It's okay."

"Nnn." House sobbed. Wilson quickly filled the tub up with warm water and started to remove his friend's clothes. House thrashed wildly as Wilson reached his pants. "Nnn."

"I'm sorry buddy." Wilson apologized. As soon as he removed the corduroy bottoms he realized why House was in so much pain. The rough fabric had been rubbing against House's sore leg and had caused the skin to become red and irritated. Wilson could have kicked himself for not changing House into his pajamas. To make matters worse his friend had wet his pants and was now shifting uncomfortably in his soiled undergarment. "Oh Greg. I am so sorry."

"Wilson." House managed. He let out a small whimper of discomfort as Wilson stripped him down the rest of the way and moved him into the warm water.

"Does that feel better?" Wilson asked. House answered with a small sigh of relief as the water hit his skin. He closed his eyes and sunk back into the tub. Wilson shook his head. "I keep accidentally hurting you buddy."

The older man's eyes slowly fluttered back open. "Mine Wilson." He mumbled.

"Your Wilson needs to do what's best for you. I just don't know what that is." Just then Rusty ambled into the bath room. He approached Wilson and gently set a paw on his foot. Wilson scratched the dog behind the ears. "Thanks boy. You're a good dog."

"He is." Cuddy suddenly appeared in the doorway. "He opened the front door for me. How's Greg doing?"

"He'd be fine if he didn't have an idiot for a caretaker. I didn't change him into his pajamas and now he has a rash on the side of his leg. I don't know what to do Lisa."

"James." Cuddy turned her back as Wilson moved House out of the tub and wrapped him in a towel. "You're his best friend. You know what he would have wanted."

"He hated Stacy for taking his leg. How is going to feel about me if a paralyze both of them?" Wilson moved House into his chair and covered him with another towel.

"So you think House would want you to approve the surgery?"

"I don't know! Part of me thinks he would want it because it is a new, dangerous procedure and he would want to try it out, even if it meant cutting into his own head. Part of me thinks he would rather die than have his legs paralyzed." Wilson paused and hung his head. "Part of me doesn't care what he would want. I just want to keep him safe and happy. I don't want to lose his smile and replace it with the miserable House that I had before."

"I thought you missed him."

"I do. I mean not the miserable part. The sharing jokes and stealing French fried part of him. The House that would stop by my apartment at ten at night just to bug me. But I know I am not getting that part of him back. I'm afraid I'll bring all the misery and be left with nothing but an old, angry cripple."

"Wilson." House shivered in his chair.

"Sorry buddy!" Wilson moved House onto his bed. "Can you get me a pair of pajamas and some disposable briefs out of his dresser?"

"Sure." Cuddy handed the clothes to Wilson and moved out into the hall.

"I know I'm being selfish." Wilson joined Cuddy in that hall after tucking House back into bed. "Greg always said I didn't do that enough but he complained like hell every time I did."

Cuddy put a hand on Wilson's shoulder. "If you go along with the surgery and it doesn't work or there are complications it wouldn't be your fault. Even House would tell you that."

Wilson rubbed the back of his neck. "I know. But I would blame myself."

"And if you don't do it?"

"I'll always wonder what would have happened if I did."

"I think you have your answer." Cuddy gave Wilson a hug. "It's going to be okay James." Wilson nodded and blinked back his tears. "I'll go call Foreman and we can set up a time for you and Greg to meet with the doctors."

**In case anymore was wondering I am not going to describe the in and out of this medical trial because I am sure I would botch the medicine completely. I did do my homework though and it is possible for a brain injury (like one that could possibly be caused by a strange and risky brain surgery) to cause paralysis of parts of the body like they talk about with the dogs, even though lower body paralysis is most commonly caused by a spinal cord injury. **

**As a further note the author is totally against using any form of animal research or testing unless there is no other alternative to saving human lives and the testing is done in the most humane way possible. I am a huge animal lover and like Wilson in the story can not understand how anyone could experinement on a dog...or rat, cat, etc. There has to be better ways out there!**


	42. Chapter 42

Wilson watched helplessly as the anesthesiologist prepared sedate House for surgery. Greg looked up at Wilson from the hospital bed with huge blue eyes filled with fear. "It's okay." Wilson said softly, laying a hand on Greg's shoulder. "You are going to be okay." Wilson felt like he was going to be sick. The thought of Greg having to go alone into the operating room was bad enough. The fact that he would be awake during the procedure made matter much worse. "Give me a hug."

House reached up numbly as the sedation began to take effect. "Wilson." Greg closed his eyes.

"It's going to be okay James." Wilson felt Cuddy's hand on his shoulder as they nurses moved House onto a gurney and wheeled him off to surgery.

"What was I thinking?" Wilson slid down into a chair in the waiting room.

"You were thinking that you are doing what is best for Greg." Cuddy said gently.

"I hate waiting. Look at this waiting room. It's designed to make you more anxious."

"Do you want to go get a cup of coffee?"

"I'm not leaving this chair until he comes out of surgery."

"You've waited for House to come out of surgery before James."

Wilson shook his head. "I was usually in the operating room. Every time they had to restart his heart or he hurt himself, every overdose. I was there. I held his hand; I made sure things were going smoothly. I made sure he was going to be okay."

"You weren't there for the infarction."

"Yeah, and I still feel guilty about that. I was at an oncology conference. I came home as soon as I could. I stayed with him through the whole recovery. I stayed with him after Stacy left; drug him to all of the physical therapy. It's what ruined my marriage with Bonnie. Well that and the fact that I cheated on her."

"You feel guiltier that you weren't there for House's infarction then you do about cheating on your wife?"

"I never said that." Wilson looked at the floor. "He needed me. I wasn't there."

"You're here now." Cuddy pointed out.

"Yeah." Wilson looked up at the clock. "I am."

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Wilson wasn't sure how much time had passed when the nurse came to tell him that House was out of surgery and had been moved to recovery. Wilson numbly followed her down a corridor and into the room full of beds. He spotted House's heavily bandaged head among the other patients. His teddy bear had been tucked under his arm by some kind nurse who must have spotted it on the end of the gurney. Wilson approached his friend cautiously. "Hey Greg." House's eyes were open but he didn't say anything. He blinked a few times and focused his eyes on Wilson. Suddenly the monitors by the side of his bed starting going crazy. "What's going on?"

"He seizing! Get the crash cart! Get him out of here!" Wilson found himself being shoved out into the hallway. He could still hear the nurses and doctors yelling in the recovery room. "I need suction over here! He can't seem to swallow."

"Come on James." Wilson felt a tug on his sleeve. "Let them do their job. Go sit down." Wilson followed Cuddy into the waiting room with tears in his eyes. He felt like he was going to faint as he sat down in one of the hard plastic chairs. The doctor rushing towards them seemed to be moving in slow motion.

"Is he going to be okay?"

**See what I mean about cliff hangers? Couldn't just leave it here...**


	43. Chapter 43

**More disclaimer...**

Wilson slowly got out of bed and stretched. It had been six months since House had undergone the experimental surgery to try to restore some of the function to his damaged brain. Wilson quietly padded down the hall and into House's room. He flipped off the night light and flicked on the over head light. "Time to get up buddy." Wilson said in a sing-a-song voice. He lowered the rail on the side of his friend's bed and gently shook him awake. "Wake up Greg."

"Wilson." House smiled at the sight of his friend. Rusty stretched and got up off of his dog bed to begin the day's familiar routine.

"Come on buddy. Let's get you into the bath." Wilson carefully maneuvered House into his wheel chair, careful not to hit either of his useless legs against the bedrail. "Are you excited about going to the pool today?"

"No." House gave a small frown. "Mine Wilson."

Wilson smiled and shook his head. "I'm right here. And you." Wilson poked House's stomach. "Are right there."

"You…me. Swim." House tried again as Wilson pushed him into the bathroom.

"I can't buddy. I have to go to work. Arms up." Wilson pulled House's shirt over his head.

"Please?" House looked at Wilson pleadingly.

"I'm sorry pal. I promise I will go next week though. I made sure I have Thursday off." House looked a bit confused. "Thursday is swim day, remember?" Wilson knew his friend had no concept of days of the week but kept going anyway. "Monday is music, Thursday is swim and I always have Friday and Saturday off."

"Mine swim." House put his arm around Wilson's neck as he was helped into the tub.

"I know you like to swim buddy. Do you want to do the shampoo?" Wilson held out the bottle of Johnson's Baby Shampoo as House nodded eagerly. Wilson could never get over how excited House got when he could do something by himself, even if it was just something simple like washing his own hair. Everyone told Wilson the changes in House were minimal but Wilson had long since decided this was just because no else had spent as much time with his friend. Greg's speech was still choppy but his vocabulary had grown by leaps and bounds. He still relied heavily on Wilson but he seemed to have an easier time figuring out simple tasks. "Are you excited about your birthday tomorrow?"

"Cake!" House grinned up at his friend.

"What color of cake do you want?" Wilson asked, holding up a blue toy boat and a red toy fish.

"Blue." House pointed at the boat. Jennie told Wilson all of House's progress had nothing to do with the surgery and everything to do with the fact that Wilson was more willing to push House to do new things because he felt guilty for costing his friend his legs. Wilson had fired Jennie when Cameron had walked in on her slapping House's hand for coloring on a wall.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Wilson asked as he laid House on the bed to dress him. House looked up at the mobile on the ceiling above his bed, watching the glittery plastic fish that hung from it dance in the breeze cause by his humidifier. "Greg? Are you still with us buddy?"Since the surgery Greg had a tendency to slip off into his own little world from time to time. Wilson looked at his friend and wondered what he was thinking about. "Greg?"

"Wilson!" House smiled.

"What did you want for breakfast?" Wilson moved House back into his chair, pushed him into the living room, and moved him onto the couch. He was careful with House's legs, making sure to put them in a comfortable position, even though they had no feeling.

"Apple." Greg called as Wilson made his way into the kitchen. "Dusty?" The little dog quickly brought his companion to remote to the TV. "Wilson? Dusty!"

"I already gave Dusty his breakfast, buddy. I'll let you do it next time okay?" Wilson returned from the kitchen with a bowl of applesauce mixed with cottage cheese. After he had come out of surgery the doctors had been certain House wasn't going to make it. He couldn't swallow on his own and had continually crashed when they removed him from the ventilator. Though Greg had proved his doctors wrong he still had a hard time swallowing and could only eat things that didn't pose much of a choking hazard.

"Cheese?" House wrinkled up his nose.

"Sorry buddy." Wilson shrugged. "You got to get that calcium in there." House grimaced as he took a bite of the mixture from a heavy plastic spoon.

"Careful buddy. Put down the spoon first." Wilson warned as he handed House his sports bottle full of juice. "You aren't exactly Mr. Coordinated there."

"Co-handaided?" House asked.

"You're clumsy." Wilson ruffled his friend's hair. "Okay, so I am going to drop you off at your school on my way to work…"

"No! Please? No work." House seemed to hate the rehabilitation facility that Wilson dropped him off at five days a week with a passion.

"Buddy, you know I am not going to leave you there. Jennie was only making a joke. You live with me okay?" Wilson could kick the former babysitter for telling House that he was going to live at the facility. She had constantly nagged Wilson that his friend would be better off there. "If you weren't here I'd be all alone. Who's my best buddy?"

A mischievous grin played on House's lips. "Dusty." He giggled.

"Oh, Dusty is my best friend? Well…" Wilson smiled at House to let him know he was only joking. "Well I guess it must be Dusty's birthday party tomorrow then."

"Wilson!" House giggled. "Mine!"

"I know." Wilson shook his head. "So after your classes Cameron is going to pick you up and drop you off at swim okay? Then she'll pick you up and take you to my office and we'll go home. How does that sound?"House was staring off into space again. His eyes focused on one of his finger paintings that Wilson had hung above the TV. "Okay, let's go." Wilson wiped some applesauce from House's face and moved him back into his wheel chair. "Come on Dusty!" The little dog barked as he raced out to the van that Wilson now drove to accommodate Greg's wheel chair.

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"His back pack is on the back of his chair…it has all his stuff in it. This bag." Wilson handed another smaller back pack to House's rehab instructor. "Has all of his swim stuff in it. Dr. Cameron will need that when she picks him later. Oh and his IPod is the front pocket of his regular pack if you wouldn't mind helping him with that." Wilson bent down so he was eye level with House. "Be good. Have fun. I'll see you later okay? Take care of Dusty."

"I'm always confused." The instructor smiled at Wilson. "Is the dog Rusty or Dusty? His tag says Rusty."

"His name is Dusty." Wilson confirmed. "Greg named him. I need to get him a new tag. Give me a hug." Wilson let House give him a quick hug, patted Dusty on the head and headed off to work quietly whistling to himself.

"You're in a good mood." Cuddy noted as Wilson came in through the entry.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Wilson asked.

"I don't know. I got Greg a stuffed dinosaur for his birthday. Do you think he'll like it?"

Wilson laughed. "He'll like anything you get him. How's Rachel?"

"Still not talking." Cuddy said a bit sadly. "They're going to try a different hearing aid and see if it has any success."

"She'll be fine." Wilson put a hand on his boss's shoulder. "I'll see you both tomorrow at Greg's birthday party."


	44. Chapter 44

**So here we are at the end of the story. Thanks again to all of you awesome people who read/ reviewed/ and actually made it through all 44 chapters of this piece of fan fiction. You are all very awesome. An extra thank you goes out to lhoma320 for offering to go over the chapters and help me edit my spelling/grammar mistakes. Hopefully there are not too many of them! Anyway without further explanation...chap 44! **

"Happy birthday." House lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. Wilson lowered the bedrail and moved his friend into a sitting position. "Greg?"

House blinked a few times and looked over at Wilson. "Cake?"

"That's right. Blue, just like you wanted. All of your friends will be here soon. Are you excited?"

"Wilson." House let his friend help him into his wheel chair.

"Of course I am going to be there. I live here remember? I have a surprise for you out in the living room." Wilson pushed House into the living room. His friend looked up in wonder at the decorations that had seemed to have magically appeared overnight.

"Mine trucks!" House said excitedly. Dusty barked in agreement.

"Remember what a great time we had at the monster truck show last month?" House didn't seem to be paying attention but Wilson continued anyway. "They aren't good as real monster trucks but pretty cool huh?"

"Cool!" House confirmed. He pointed at a few packages sitting on the coffee table. "Mine."

"Not until later." Wilson pushed House's chair back so the presents were out of his reach.

"Are we early?" Cameron and Chase came in through the entryway. "We come with gifts."

"Put them on the coffee table Chase." Wilson pointed at the small table that House was trying to maneuver his chair towards. "Sorry buddy. I put on the brakes."

"This one is from Kutner." Cameron held up a small box. "He mailed it to the clinic."

"Probably more Harry Potter." Chase sat down on the couch. "We don't like Harry do we Greg?"

"Mine book." House replied happily. "Mine Cammie, look!" He pointed as his pajamas.

"New jammies, very nice. I like the race cars. Very cool." Cameron smiled. "How are you holding up?" She looked at Wilson.

"We're great." Wilson smiled. "Greg has been doing great in physical therapy. I've been keeping up on my counseling. Ever since his surgery…"

"Surgery nothing." Cuddy came into the room carrying Rachel. "It's you that's changed. You don't spend all of your time worrying and treating Greg like he's a helpless kitten. That psycho babysitter was right. It's all you Wilson."

"What about crazy babysitters?" Foreman came in behind Cuddy. "You didn't invite that crazy woman did you?"

"Of course not." Wilson arranged the presents on the coffee table. "She was nuts."

"She was right about you though." Taub pointed out as he squeezed past Foreman and Cuddy to set his gift on the coffee table. "And she was right about Greg too. He just needed someone to push him a little."

"Yeah push him. Not whack him on the hand." Cameron said angrily. "If I ever see her again…"

"Who wants cake?" Wilson interrupted.

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Wilson wiped blue frosting from House's face. "Ready for presents?" Wilson handed House one of the packages from the coffee table. House smiled but then looked at the box a bit puzzled. "You rip the paper off buddy. Like this." Wilson tore a small corner off of the paper.

"Yay." House beamed as he ripped the paper off of the box and tossed it to the floor. He threw the present aside and put out his hands for another box. Dusty ran to retrieve the discarded gift.

"Look Greg, it's Sponge Bob." Chase took the box from Dusty's mouth and opened it to reveal a pair of slippers. He turned to Cameron. "I told you we should have gotten him a video game."

"Stupid sponge!" House said happily as he ripped the paper from another gift.

Wilson shook his head. "I should have never let him hear me say that. What's in the box Greg?"

"Mine stuff." Greg dumped the box upside down and let a video game, a small toy motor cycle and bunch of candy fall to the floor.

"I didn't wrap mine." Foreman held out a large rubber ducky apologetically.

"Mine duck!" House looked at Cuddy who was holding Rachel. "Mine?"

She laughed. "You and Wilson are coming over for dinner later. I'll give you it then okay?" She turned to the others. "I got him a stuffed dinosaur. It roars and walks when you push a button."

"Great. More talking toys." Wilson glared at Cuddy. He turned back to the birthday boy. "Aren't you wondering what Dusty and I got you for your birthday?"

"Cake." House answered. His little dog wagged its tail and licked some blue frosting from his paw.

"No." Wilson laughed. He went to the little used coat closet and removed something from its depths.

"Mine?" House's eyes grew wide as the brand new guitar Wilson had bought him came into view.

"All yours buddy." Wilson smiled. "I know you've wanted one ever since you started playing again in music class. It's a little bigger than the one…well here. Do you like it?" House stared at the guitar and began to chew on his lower lip, eyes focused on the strings. "Buddy? Are you okay?"

House's head snapped up. "Mine Wilson." He smiled.

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"What do you think he's thinking about?" Cuddy asked as she watched House stare at the ceiling in her living room.

"Don't know. But sometimes with look he gets on his face I almost expect him to turn around, call me an idiot and ask what the hell happened to his legs."

"James…"

"I'm glad I went through with the surgery. I'm also glad he didn't fully recover. Can you imagine what it would do to him knowing everything he went through in that last year? He would probably try to hang himself all over again." Wilson looked over at House. "When I start to think about what a waste of a great medical mind it is I remind myself how miserable he was."

"You think brain damage was the only way to relieve his misery?"

Wilson shrugged. "I don't know. I don't care anymore. I'm done wondering about what if. I'm just glad that he's happy."

"What about you?"

"I'm not living alone in Amber's old apartment anymore. I'm not wallowing in misery or blaming myself for everything. I think I have finally learned to accept life as it comes and just deal with it."

"Wilson?"

"Hey buddy." Wilson smiled.

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House looked at Wilson. He couldn't understand why Wilson was smiling but he didn't care. He liked it when Wilson smiled. Wilson seemed to smile a lot more these days. He looked over at Lisa. She was smiling too. Wilson was talking. House could understand what he was saying but he didn't mind. He liked the sound of Wilson's voice and the happy tone the probably meant he would get a hug or a toy or a piece of candy soon. "Dinner." Now there was a word he could understand.

"Mine apple?" House hoped that Wilson would give him the stuff Wilson called apple and not the gross orange mush he had given him before. Wilson smiled again. It reminded House of the fuzzy pictures in his head where he could talk like Wilson and everybody wore angry faces. House tried to concentrate hard on recalling these times but it was all hazy like when doctor gave him medicine to make him go to sleep.

"Buddy?"

"Mine Wilson." House knew saying these words was sure to make Wilson smile. He was glad Wilson was here more and not leaving him with the bad lady who would hit him until it hurt to sit down. He could never understand why she was so mad at him. He was happy when Wilson made her go away. He looked down at his legs. They never hurt anymore. Maybe they were sleeping forever like the bird Dusty had put in his mouth at the park. Wilson was hugging him now. He forgot about the bird, the mean lady, the fuzzy pictures and the dinner. He liked being hugged. It made he feel warm and happy. He liked when Cammie hugged him best. Her hair smelled like apple. House thought about Cammie, and Chase and eating cake. He wondered if cake came other times than what Wilson called his 'birthday' and if it could be green or red or purple instead of blue. House liked blue. It reminded him of…

"Here sweetie." House's thoughts were wiped clean again by the sudden appearance of a bowl in front of him.

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"That oatmeal must be interesting." Cuddy noted as House stared at the bowl.

"He's probably hoping that if he stares at it long enough it will turn to ice cream." Wilson laughed. "He isn't a big fan of oatmeal. I probably should have brought something else."

"He does that lot doesn't he?"

"What? Not eat his food? He's usually pretty good about it actually."

"No. I mean the staring off into space. He was doing it earlier."

"Yeah. His doctors told me it's because his brain is trying to catch up on processing all the things he has taken in earlier. I think he is just daydreaming."

Cuddy laughed. "Daydreaming? About what?"

"I don't know. Bubbles. Ducks. Playing the piano. All that other Greg stuff."

"It really doesn't bother you anymore does it?"

"Greg? I don't know. Sometimes. Like I said I've learned to live with it."

"I don't know how you do it."

Wilson gave a gentle smile as he looked over at House sitting in his wheel chair spooning oatmeal onto the floor for a grateful Dusty. "Sometimes, Lisa, you'd be surprised at what you can live with."

FIN

**So this is Vienna. To those of you that were hoping that House would recover from all of this I wanted to explain my reasoning in ending the story like I did. After a great deal of thought the author decided that it would pretty much kill someone as proud as House to come to and realize all he had been through and all Wilson and others had done for him through out his ordeal. Also in real life I believe there are very few truly happy endings and life is really mostly what you make of it, barring a few miracles every now and then. In the end this ending really is a happy one because both House and Wilson do find a very strange sort of happiness...though in Wilson's case I would guess you would classify it more as acceptance. I used Wilson's line from the episode "Spin" not once but twice in this fic because I always thought it was kind of cryptic and wondered if there was some hidden meaning behind it...it this case it obviously translates to him being able to deal with House and his disabilities because he cares for his friend so much. =) **

**Anyway I really hope everyone enjoyed and didn't hate the ending too much.**


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